Why were the old days better than these?
(George Mylne, "Lessons for the Christian's Daily Walk" 1859)
"Do not say,'Why were the old days
better than these?' For it is not wise
to ask such questions." Ecclesiastes 7:10
Such questions are not wise.
They savor either of ignorance,
or discontent. If former days really
were better, then you are discontent--
if not, then you are ignorant.
At all events, days past, and present,
are just what GOD has made them--
so it is bad to raise the question.
Faith takes matters as they come.
Blind unbelief asks many questions;
it often asks, "WHY!"
One says, "Trade was far better
before I entered business--
I wonder how it is?"
Another, "Markets were better
before I took to farming--
How can it be?" A third,
"Fortunes were sooner
made, when I was young--
Why does it happen thus?"
"The seasons are not what they
once were," exclaims a fourth--
"all rain, and no sunshine;
what can the reason be?"
What are the times, my friend?
Who made, who ordered them?
Out of whose bosom did they come?
Who holds them in HIS hand?
To quarrel with the times--
is to find fault with GOD!
HE has made them all beautiful
in their seasons. (Ecclesiastes 3:11.)
If they do not please you--
whose fault is it? Could you
have made them better?
Examine well the links which
interweave time present with time past--
the mysterious chain of providential
dealings. Look at the ordering
of events, one hanging
on the other, in perfect
order, though mysterious.
Survey the wonders of GOD'S
providence, the wondrous workings
of HIS sovereign power. These
are the the sum and substance
of the times; times past, times
present, and times future;
your times and my times;
the times of all men in all ages!
To change the times--were . . .
to derange the ordering of Providence
from first to last;
to break the golden chain of divine events;
to mar the beauty of GOD'S structure.
GOD'S dispensations revolve in fixed
and sure orbits, all moving, acting,
following, in perfect order. To pluck
one adverse event away:
to change sunshine for rain--
or rain for sunshine; sorrow for joy--
or joy for sorrow; easy for hard--
or hard for easy, would be
as foolish as to arrest
the planets in their course, or
sweep a constellation from the skies!
You say, "Times past were better
than the present." Is GOD less
present now than then?
Are HIS paths more difficult?
Are HIS ways less sure?
Has HIS grace, then, changed its
character? Is JESUS not the same?
Is man less wicked now than then?
Does he deserve a milder treatment?
Do not compare old times--
against present times; or your hard lot--
against the "fortune" of your forefathers.
Compare your "lot" with your deserts--
and say which best befits you--
to thank GOD or complain of HIS
providential dealings with you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(George Mylne, "Lessons for the Christian's Daily Walk" 1859)
"Do not say,'Why were the old days
better than these?' For it is not wise
to ask such questions." Ecclesiastes 7:10
Such questions are not wise.
They savor either of ignorance,
or discontent. If former days really
were better, then you are discontent--
if not, then you are ignorant.
At all events, days past, and present,
are just what GOD has made them--
so it is bad to raise the question.
Faith takes matters as they come.
Blind unbelief asks many questions;
it often asks, "WHY!"
One says, "Trade was far better
before I entered business--
I wonder how it is?"
Another, "Markets were better
before I took to farming--
How can it be?" A third,
"Fortunes were sooner
made, when I was young--
Why does it happen thus?"
"The seasons are not what they
once were," exclaims a fourth--
"all rain, and no sunshine;
what can the reason be?"
What are the times, my friend?
Who made, who ordered them?
Out of whose bosom did they come?
Who holds them in HIS hand?
To quarrel with the times--
is to find fault with GOD!
HE has made them all beautiful
in their seasons. (Ecclesiastes 3:11.)
If they do not please you--
whose fault is it? Could you
have made them better?
Examine well the links which
interweave time present with time past--
the mysterious chain of providential
dealings. Look at the ordering
of events, one hanging
on the other, in perfect
order, though mysterious.
Survey the wonders of GOD'S
providence, the wondrous workings
of HIS sovereign power. These
are the the sum and substance
of the times; times past, times
present, and times future;
your times and my times;
the times of all men in all ages!
To change the times--were . . .
to derange the ordering of Providence
from first to last;
to break the golden chain of divine events;
to mar the beauty of GOD'S structure.
GOD'S dispensations revolve in fixed
and sure orbits, all moving, acting,
following, in perfect order. To pluck
one adverse event away:
to change sunshine for rain--
or rain for sunshine; sorrow for joy--
or joy for sorrow; easy for hard--
or hard for easy, would be
as foolish as to arrest
the planets in their course, or
sweep a constellation from the skies!
You say, "Times past were better
than the present." Is GOD less
present now than then?
Are HIS paths more difficult?
Are HIS ways less sure?
Has HIS grace, then, changed its
character? Is JESUS not the same?
Is man less wicked now than then?
Does he deserve a milder treatment?
Do not compare old times--
against present times; or your hard lot--
against the "fortune" of your forefathers.
Compare your "lot" with your deserts--
and say which best befits you--
to thank GOD or complain of HIS
providential dealings with you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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