The good old days

"Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness; Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me; When my steps were bathed with cream, And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me! - Job 29v2-6

To start with I have to admit that I stole this title. A college friend is also going through Job and posting his thoughts on Facebook where I saw this title last week. So anyway, thanks Jim!

In chapter 29 we find Job lamenting the ‘good old days.’ Back then He sensed God walking with him and walked in God’s light. His children were gathered all around them. It was all peaches and cream. He goes on like that for most of the chapter.

Oh for the good old days. This sense of nostalgia is one we can all identify with. These nostalgic feelings tend to especially affect us when things are difficult. When things get bad we can long for the good old days when everything was okay.

There is nothing wrong with looking back on days when God’s blessings were obvious to us. If we handle it right we can be comforted that God is there, He has blessed in the past, and He is perfectly capable of doing it again.

However, the problem comes when we ling for those days to the extent that we get discouraged at the present. That is where Job is at the moment. He is asking himself why it can’t be like it used to be in the old days.

This is when it gets dangerous. This is when we can begin to question God. If we don’t control these thoughts they can go from question to doubting God. Doubting God is, in essence, saying that we are wiser than He is.

Enjoy the encouragement of looking back at former blessings. But don’t get caught in the trap of looking back instead of forward.