What Has Been Will Be Again

 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, NIV).

 

Do you sometimes feel like what you are going through, you have already been through? Often we discover a circumstance repeats in our lives until we learn the lesson. Perhaps you realize what you are doing, you have done before. That is what I discovered this morning! I really feel like “what has been done has been done again”. I realized in looking back through years of writing devotionals, that I have repeated myself in ideas, subject matter, approaches, and words. I discovered that this morning that a devotional I had written yesterday had been expressed (in other words) last August 9th. I really thought the idea was something I had not yet put in writing. Then I began researching and discovered so many repetitions in ideas and Scriptures and examples, that I thought, “I have nothing more to share. I'm just an old woman repeating myself”.

Before I beat myself up emotionally over this, I took the time to pray, and discovered Solomon's statement. Solomon was a man who had asked God for wisdom, and in the book of Proverbs, we discover gems of wisdom that change our lives. The book of Ecclesiastes is written after Solomon's fall from God's grace, and is filled with power and insight into the futility of life without God. This Scripture is very important for me to realize that life repeats itself so that I can, hopefully, learn the lessons that will hold me faithfully in Him all the days of my life. Repetition reinforces what I believe, and my identity in Him. I write about “maturing in Christ” constantly because that is my own journey and my hope.

“There is nothing new under the sun,” Solomon woefully ends the statement. He had lost what he once had, and sees only the sad repeat of his life. Life's circumstances can destroy me or bring me to God. It is my choice. The futility of life is only real when I have no faith in the God who loved me enough to give His life for me. The futility is real if I turn my back on His love and His will for my life. As I draw toward the end of my life, I will write, and when I repeat myself, it shall reinforce my own journey. I pray that it encourages your journey, too. If some days you discover that there is nothing for you, I appreciate your patience in allowing me these days of remembrance. 

In His Love,

Lynn