A quick verse and a hard hitting truth today in our Ecclesiastes today 

Ecc 7:3  Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. 

If we think about it, the dark days in our lives make the bright days that much better.   

We drink water everyday and don’t give it a second thought, but imagine going through a desert for 2 days without water, and when we finally get a sip of that water, it tastes better than the finest wine or most expensive soft drink.

Solomon is telling us that the tough times are what mold us, or refine us.

If we look over the last century, the most prosperous times for Western Civilization was after the two world wars and the Great Depression.  There is a reason that  generation who came back from war and started the baby boom is remembered by many as The Greatest Generation.

Another saying goes;

-tough times create strong men

-strong men create good times

-good times create weak men

-weak men create hard times 

As today’s verse tells us, sorrow is better than laughter because sorrow or tough times, create strong men.