Ecclesiastes 7:8-14 (The Good 'Ol Days)

⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
    and patience is better than pride.
⁹ Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
    for anger resides in the lap of fools.

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
    For it is not wise to ask such questions.

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
    and benefits those who see the sun.
¹² Wisdom is a shelter
    as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
    Wisdom preserves those who have it.

¹³ Consider what God has done:

Who can straighten
    what he has made crooked?
¹⁴ When times are good, be happy;
    but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
    as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
    anything about their future.

Like I said last week, it was a big week for me.  Saturday marked four years since Mom went to Heaven.  And for any of you experiencing significant grief right now, I hope you will allow me to encourage you with this: it does get easier.

I remember people saying that to me, and I waited and waited for the "easier" part to come...it took a bit longer than I thought it would.  Like, years.  But finally in this fourth year, I think I've come up for breath more than I ever have.  I can think of my mom and smile much more than I cry.  And I do have days occasionally where I don't think of her at all, and that had never happened in the first three years.

But for the first three years especially, and even now occasionally, I will think of what verse 10 is saying, and I'll wish for "the good ol' days," when everyone was alive and living under the same room, playing games together and traveling together.  Life seemed so simple, so perfect.  But Solomon immediately says wishing for the good ol' days is not a wise thing to do.

It's so easy for us to live in the past and to wish for the past, isn't it?  

And it's easy for us to go there because thinking about the past and spending energy on "the past" requires nothing of me.  You know, I know, and God knows that I can't change the past -- there's nothing that can be done about what has been.  It's already done.

So spending my time and energy on the past is my easy cop-out to not work on the present.

Sometimes I'd rather stay hovered over The Past because spending time on The Now will hurt.  Thinking about what steps I could take at this moment might require something of me, a sacrifice perhaps.  I might have to deal with my current feelings and emotions, ones I wish I didn't have or could have dealt with in The Past.  What are we trying to avoid by staying focused on The Past?

Or perhaps it's something we're trying to gain?  Perhaps by focusing on The Past, I can go back to the old idols that made me feel safe.  I wonder if by focusing on The Past, I get to feel important again, or loved, or powerful, or free, or young.  

But that's not wise. Why?  Because that is not reality anymore, and staying there will only harm us in the end.

Do you believe that things happen for a Reason?  Do you trust that that old relationship maybe didn't work for your good?  Do you believe that even in loss there is much more to be gained?  Do you believe when God says, "Behold, I am making all things new" (Rev. 21:5) that He also means you, and in order for you to change you can't stay the same and things can't stay the same as they always have been?

If there's one girl who hates change more than anyone, it's me.  Just this week, Josh asked me to switch sides of the bed with him so he can hear better due to a hearing loss he has.  One would think that as his wife I would move in a heartbeat so he could hear better, right?  Wrong.  I have pouted (as light-heartedly as I could) and whined and complained.  It has been difficult for me to move to a new side of the bed.  I've been on the right side for five whole years!  I'm attached to "my side."  I comfortable and secure there.  I don't like change!

But with change comes wisdom (as verses 11-12 tell us).  With wisdom comes a shelter and a comfort that we can't know without change.  And the wisdom we get from facing these changes head-on will preserve us.  It will make us ready for the next time, because there will be a next time.

Verse 13 says to "consider what God has done."  He is the one who allows these things into our lives, but He never does so without a reason.  And we may never know that reason.

Can we trust Him even when He never gives us a reason?

He doesn't owe us anything.  He is God.  His thoughts and ways are much higher than our human minds can ever comprehend.

So, we have to just trust Him.

He knows what He's doing.

"So when times are good," says verse 14, "be happy."  When things are peachy, enjoy them.  Laugh a lot, smile constantly, enjoy every great moment in the day, and just soak up the delight of it all.  God has made these good times.

"But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other."  He is doing something in you.  Don't miss the blessing by trying to change what cannot be changed.

Adversity and prosperity -- God brings them both.  You can be sure that the future won't look exactly as you hope it will, but you can be sure that with any pain will come wisdom.

And from my own experience, I wouldn't trade it.

Molly Monroe