Pessimism

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
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.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow. Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

You often hear people pessimistic about the times in which we live. "this economy is killing me…", "kids just don't respect authority…", "the moral fabric of this country is decaying…", "No one knows how to put in a hard day's work anymore…", "it's so much harder for kids growing up these days…", "I don’t know how my parents could manage to live on just 1 salary". Admittedly, I can find myself thinking this way sometimes. And I wonder, are times really worse or do I somehow recall the past with rose colored sunglasses. Perhaps things weren't really all that different when I was a kid. Maybe I just remember it as more wholesome than it really was. After all, no matter when you grew up, the same sins still existed. Since the garden, there's been pride, greed, lust, envy, etc. Perhaps what changes is the degree to which society calls evil good and vise versa. The mistake is to somehow think the rules have all changed and the world is totally different. . I love the following quote:

"In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." ~ Paul Harvey

To think things are so much worse today is to presume you know what it was like to have lived in some of the really bad times in the past. But ultimately, that kind of thinking is what can paralyze your effectiveness here and now. You are uniquely gifted and purposed by God. Don't let pessimism hinder your zeal for that purpose. Think about this during your prayer times this week.

Have a great week and a great fast.
Your brother,
Bob