Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Job 29 - Good Old Days

Job longs for the "good old days" when all was well with his life.  In fact, it was better than well.  His life was great.  He was admired, respected, looked up to.   

How many of us long for the "good old days."  I hear it all the time.  It is strange to me, though, that it is not the really elderly who I hear this most from, but more from the middle-aged.  Those who have lived 80 or 90 years have experienced enough life to know that each year will bring change and some of it will not be good.  But, they also know that much of the change to come will be good and they have learned to trust God. 

For some, who reach middle age, it is kind of a shock when we realize that we're not young any more and we want to go back to those days when we were - when everything seemed wonderful - even if, in reality, it was not.  I think, just maybe, the reality of our mortality starts hitting many of us sometime after we hit the age of 50.  We long for the "good old days" because we fear death.  If not death, maybe it's life we fear.  Maybe it's fear of not being young and beautiful, active and full energy to go out and a desire to go out and change the world.  Physically, we often cannot do what we use to do and so we long for the "good old days" when we were young and had hopes of doing great things. 

Now, I'm just surmising.  I'm sure this does not hold true for everyone.  But, it seems, it holds true for Job.  He is sick and tired.  He would be considered, after all, middle aged, as we know the rest of the story and know that he will live to prosper and even raise another family.  His life is not any where near it's end; yet, we find him today longing for the "good old days." 

May God help us to learn to enjoy each day for the gift it is.  The past is the past that has brought us to today.  It has helped make us who we are.  But, would we really want to go back to those "good old days" and learn all those lessons all over again?

God's Peace - Pr. Judy

 

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