No, that's not a new Cheetah Girl song - thank goodness. I've already had more Hannah "Big Sky Mouth" Montana than I can ever take. She's like X-rays. There's a lifetime limit after which your genetic structure falls apart.
At any rate, I'm in a funk. As I look back across my old blogs, one thing rings true: they are laments about stuff over which I have no control and am not likely to any time soon. In that sense, they remind me of Solomon's agonized cry in Ecclesiastes 1:
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
How sad that the man once considered the wisest of all, a king of countless riches and splendor, the son of David should be reduced to this? Yet is this not where we all should find ourselves when we consider our human condition? Created - from nothing. We have one pass at this vapor in time that we call life. Solomon knew this and he was heartbroken by it. For all his successes, he had many regrets. Things he should've said or done; perhaps other things he should've left unsaid or undone.
I stumbled upon a blog today while looking for my cousin's website. It wasn't my cousin, but a brother and sister in Christ. Strangely, ironically, I know folks that they know. From long ago. But beyond that, their website was a three year journal of God's faithfulness to them. Where I have spent a mere few months commentating on the world around me - a world that is temporal and fleeting - they have stayed focused on the course. The eternal. The foundation that cannot be shaken.
The past few years, while they have maintained their focus, my foundation has been shaken. It's been three years of drastic and dramatic change. Some good, some great, some really bad. I am often reminded that we cannot change our past and therefore should not keep looking back at it. As such, that three year blog reminded me that I should look forward; use the past as a benchmark against which to measure new growth and a marker to remember from where I've come. It was the "slap across the face" that my new pastor often mentions, telling me "hey, dummy, you need to pray more." Nothing more. Nothing less. Commune with God and listen for that still, small voice. I need to pray with those whom I love and do so without ceasing.
I have resisted for too long. The Bible speaks so many times of men wrestling with God or testing God. He was always faithful. And He always won. I think that blog was my wake-up call to pay attention and move forward. God is Good . . . all the time.
Walk with me . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment