Home

“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” ~Ecclesiastes 7:8

I just love new beginnings! Living in Michigan, the shifting of each season brings with it a promise of the things to come. The Autumn dew points toward the Winter snow. The Winter snow points toward the rains of Spring which soften the soil for the gardens of Summer. The newness of the seasons’ beginnings usher in routines that bring me comfort: canning season, the holiday season, gardening season, and camping season. Yet, all of these seasons end. So, what about the end of a thing?

Here we are with Solomon in Ecclesiastes hearing a bit of an odd concept: “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning…” (7:8a). That seems so opposite. A new birth. A new job. Aren’t these so much better than the end of them? The end of birth is death – how is this better? The end of that new job could be unemployment – how is this better?

We tend to hold onto what we know; letting go stirs up a sense of loss. But God tells us that only fools allow this resentment to rest in their spirit (Ecclesiastes 7:9). When we hold onto what we thought might have been – we are fools.

God tells us to look at the past with wisdom (v.10). Glean the joys and the lessons. When we look through rose-colored glasses and yearn for our false perspective on the days of old – we are fools.

God says that inheriting wisdom is advantageous over inheriting money (vv. 11-12). When we misinterpret the source of our security – we are fools.

God tells us to be joyful when we are prosperous AND through adversity (v. 14). When we allow our delight to be dependent on our circumstance – we are fools.

Whether good or bad, what we have now tends to bring us comfort and the thought of the now coming to an end can be unnerving. Yet there is hope. A dream that comes true when we stay our heart on the truth of His Word. This Word is clear: when He moves us to the end of a thing, He is truly moving us to a new beginning. The old has become the new.

Though these new unknowns stretch us and our faith as we move through uncomfortable sanctification, we can know that it is for good because it drives us toward Jesus – the alpha and omega – the BEST beginning and the BEST end (Revelation 22:31) who makes straight all the things we mess up (Ecclesiastes 7:13).

Friends, God’s Word tells us that the end is really an opportunity for something new and better. I pray that we recognize that this is the lens through which we see rightly and that gets us excited for the next season’s possibilities.

Much love and many blessings!