"The end of a matter is better than it's beginning, and patience is better than pride."
Do you dread hardship? Do you wonder why it happens and then long for the days when life was comfortable and familiar? I do. Or, at least I have. You know, there are just those days. I don't know about you, but so often troubles come in groups. First one {and I'm thinking, "ah, this will pass soon"} then another, and another, until before you know it........ there's an avalanche. Life seems to be hitting you from all sides and you wonder where did those peaceful moments go?
Many times, our struggles are deep, real and personal. At other times, it's just the buildup of insignificant, petty annoyances that finally reach a breaking point. Or maybe it's just two or three small issues that seem overwhelming or disheartening when they all fall apart at the same time. This recently was my experience. {Although I've dealt with the other two scenarios on various occasions as well.}
Life was moving along so smoothly {albeit super busily} and expectations were high. There were a few question marks, but I felt sure the Lord would work those out in His time. And He did. Just not in the way I had presupposed. In fact, totally different than I had presupposed. Was I crushed? No. Was I heartbroken? No. Was I disappointed? Yes. But here's the real question: was I disappointed in God, in my circumstances, or the presupposition I had created? Basically the latter.
"All things work together for good, to them that love God." We often quote this verse, but do we really understand it's meaning? ALL things..... the bad, the ugly, and the disappointments too. It's what He wants to teach us through the circumstance that's important - not the circumstance itself. Life is full of situations where I can learn to grow in this area - to understand His care in all circumstances. Times when I feel unnoticed, hurt, and dissapointed.
Recently in my devotions, I came across this passage in Ecclesiastes 7:
The end of a matter is better than it's beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
Do not say "why were the old days better than these?"
for it is not wise to ask such questions.
Consider what God has done:
who can straighten what He has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one as well as the other.
When you really stop to think about it, the end is better than the beggining. Just in very simple terms if an experience has been enjoyable, we don't want it to end - but when it does end, we have all our happy memories. If it's something unpleasant, we wait for the ending in anticipation. :) Let's plunge a little deeper: the birth of a baby, the finish line in a race, the culmination of months & years of hard work..... truly the ending is better than the beginning. And then there's that term we use called "closure". Having some kind of finality - even if that finality is heartbreaking - is better than never knowing the end.
After my week of disappointments, a ray of hope shone bright. A simple conversation with one person and I begin to see where this will possibly lead. It's a ways yet in the future, but I am willing to wait and trust that He knows what He is doing....... and that "the end of a matter is better than it's beginning."
After my week of disappointments, a ray of hope shone bright. A simple conversation with one person and I begin to see where this will possibly lead. It's a ways yet in the future, but I am willing to wait and trust that He knows what He is doing....... and that "the end of a matter is better than it's beginning."
