“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccl 1:9)
A rather discouraging thought, isn’t it? In fact, the theme of the entire first chapter of Ecclesiastes is disheartening! But nothing quite as depressing to me as this: “There is nothing new under the sun”!
But as I was reading through the first chapter of Ecclesiastes the other day, instead of becoming depressed, I was encouraged! Why? Because there is nothing new under the sun!
Now, wait a minute, Lyn. You’re talking riddles! How can the statement that usually depresses you bring you encouragement?
Let’s take a look.
How many of you have ever said or thought something like this: “I don’t know what God is up to this time, but I sure don’t know about His methods!” Or how many of you have accused God of not using the correct methods in a particular situation? You know. There is this person you’ve been praying for who is struggling to grow in her faith. Her son is struck with a serious illness. You pray for his healing, reminding God that if she could only witness a miracle, her faith in Him would grow, and maybe she would even give her heart to Him. Then things take a turn for the worse. I would be sorely tempted to say something like this: “God! You’ve got it wrong! You pulled the wrong trick out of your bag! Maybe this is a new one for you! A new one that you’ve never dealt with before! Lord, listen to me! You’re going about it all wrong! We want to increase her faith. Not decrease it!”
It is at these times that we can take great comfort in Ecclesiastes 1:9! Why? Because, there is NOTHING NEW under the sun! All of God’s tricks are try and proven. He doesn’t try anything new on us. He only tries things that are proven to work!
Isn’t that a comforting thought? Of all the “stuff” that comes our way in this life, there is NOTHING NEW that Jesus hasn’t dealt with before! Praise God that there is nothing new under the sun! Praise Him that there is NOTHING that He isn’t fully equipment to deal with, and that ALL of His methods are tried and proven!
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org