The good old days

“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when His lamp shone upon my head and by His light I walked through darkness!” Job 29:2-3
We’ll all have times in our lives when, like Job, we encounter difficulties that seem to overwhelm us, and we look back fondly on ‘the good old days’. But stop and ask yourself: were ‘the good old days’ really that good? What makes them good, looking back, is that we can see how God brought us through, how our worst fears were unfounded, how the difficulties made us stronger, how God used them for good (Rom. 8:28).
Chris Rice wrote a song called ‘Eighth Grade’ which included these lyrics: “Why does the past always seem safer? Maybe because at least we know we made it. And why do we worry about the future? When every day will come just the way the Lord ordained it...” It’s been said that hindsight is always 20/20. When we look back, we can often see the bigger picture in how God was leading and guiding us, even though at the time we couldn’t see it. The key is to apply that to our present situation: knowing that even though we may not be able to make sense of it, God still has His hand upon us, working things out for our benefit. He has brought you through in the past, and He will bring you through in the future. There’s nothing wrong with looking back on the good old days, to remember God’s faithfulness – so long as you don’t stay there at the expense of living in the present.