Being that Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books of the Bible, I regularly call to mind that "there's nothing new under the sun." Yes, there are circumstances happening to us and all around us that couldn't have happened before. Quite often, though, only the details have changed. What we're facing, what's at stake and what we should do follows a pattern the world has seen from us before. Mark Twain said it differently from the old preacher: "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."
My way of saying all of that isn't as eloquent, but it's been helpful to me. I like to say, "It's our turn."
It's our turn to make the tough decisions of life others have struggled through. It's our turn to appreciate and celebrate the opportunities other generations have established and shared. It's our turn to mourn, to grieve and to suffer loss. What you and I might go through today is nothing new the world hasn't seen. It's just our turn to experience it. And, chances are, what we experience the first time won't be our final time.
As God walks with us through life and we encounter all the sun has already seen, we learn. We learn from our past and from the examples of others. It's important to understand how our emotional lens shapes who we are and what we do today. But it's often true our familiarity with the struggles and victories others have seen explain a lot to us as well.
In looking back to Israel's unfaithful history, the apostle Paul said "these things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Yes, there were many who proved to be bad examples of faith. But not everyone was. He'll go on to say, "No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone" (10:13). In other words, the testing of faith you may experience today, it's nothing new. You can overcome it. Others have. It's just your turn.
Stay blessed...john | 
No comments:
Post a Comment