Nothing new Under the Sun
"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.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,