Trusting the King of the ages
Sometimes when we consider the world around us, and our place in it, it can seem like more things are going wrong than are going right. In times like that, we might wonder, “What is God up to? What is he doing?” But when the going gets tough, the wise words of Solomon from Ecclesiastes chapter 7 can help us maintain a proper perspective. He writes:
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.1
Our world is fallen, and given over to decay and death. But God, the maker of the world, lives forever and still works his mighty purposes within it. He uses time and circumstances to accomplish his purposes in our lives and perfect his plans. This world was created so that we might know him, and we are still fully able to do so. The road ahead need not always be a pleasant one. He knows precisely what we need to draw us to himself.
Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.2
We need never long for the good old days. Rather, we should seek the One who made them good. He is still here, and always will be. God is our refuge and our strength on every kind of day.
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.3
We never know exactly what our future will look like. It’s nice when things go smoothly, but that isn’t necessarily a sign of God’s favor! And when we struggle, that isn’t necessarily a sign of his disfavor either. God’s ways are higher than our own, and his eternal plans don’t always make sense from our temporal perspective.
In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.4
How, then, should we live? We should trust God in every circumstance. Our situation is never stable for long, but his loving character always is. The stability we long for is ultimately found in him alone. Sometimes, the ups and downs in our lives help to remind us of that very thing. No matter what happens, we can expect God to sustain us through it and to draw us closer to him in the process. With his help, we can bear up under any and every circumstance that might befall us.
It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.5
God himself must be our focus and our endless desire. Though we are imperfect, we were created by him and for him. We can do no better than to pursue him daily, and ever to seek his face. To run to him on good days and bad days alike. To tell him our every anxious thought, and thank him for every bright moment. To make him all we want, and all we require.
Solomon shares this sobering and humbling fact as well:
Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.6
This is the simple truth. We are not uniformly righteous; only God is. It is for this reason that his gospel is our most precious possession. Each day, we may pray anew, “Lord, today I have a need that only you can meet.” That will be true on every day, and so we may agree with Paul:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.7
Yes, amen indeed. And we must not miss Paul’s point: Christ’s perfect patience with us sets an example for us to follow. We too must be patient, as we wait for all that God has prepared for us. He works all things together for our good, and for his glory.
Now,
To God be the glory, great things he hath done!
So loved He the world that he gave us his Son,
Who yielded his life an atonement for sin
And opened the life gate, that all may go in.
Praise the Lord!8