People Are Fickle When It Comes to New Changes
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash
But those who will come later will not be happy with the successor. Even this is pointless. ⌊It’s like⌋ trying to catch the wind. (Eccl 4:16 GW) [context– Eccl 4:13-16]
“Nothing is permanent except change.”
The ancient and obscure Greek philosopher Heraclitus appears to be the originator of this saying. Known for his metaphysical and obsessive focus on the constancy of change, he summed it up this way, ”everything flows.”
Heraclitus would probably favor the book of Ecclesiastes since he echos similar sentiments as Solomon. His outlook on life and people was both paradoxical and dark.
Another expression of Heraclitus—change is the only constant—is a popular thought today. There’s truth to this observation but it doesn’t need to be dark or discouraging.
Change is a part of everyday life. Count on it! Things will change even when we want them to stay the same. Change takes place all around us even when we feel stuck in a monotonous routine of life.
The nature of life requires change. Growth and development are impossible without change.
We can be eager or resistant to change, but not indifferent to it.
When cultural and political change takes place, there’s often great resistance to it by those who prefer the status quo. And economic change tends to produce anxiety or excitement based on certain outcomes.
Unlike Heraclitus, some people pursue and see change as a general way to improve things. They embrace the idea of making change for the sake of change.
But sometimes, the change we think we want isn’t what we expect when it comes. This is what Solomon seems to allude to in these last four verses of Chapter 4.
Insights
These last few verses begin with a proverb—
A young man who is poor and wise is better than an old, foolish king who won’t take advice any longer. (Eccl 4:13 GW)
This sounds like an indictment of Solomon himself—a realization of his own foolishness and resistance to his advisors and his disloyalty to the Lord. It’s a reflection of his life from youth to old age.
Solomon was a young man of 20 years when he began his reign as the king of Israel. He was chosen to succeed King David over his older brothers (1 Kings 1:30; 2:12).
Early in his reign, Solomon was given extraordinary wisdom from God. But in his later years, Solomon became foolish. He collected hundreds of wives and concubines who turned his heart towards idolatry and self-gratification, and away from the Lord (1 Kings 3:9-12; 11:1-5).
I believe Solomon had some sense of what would take place after his death. He seems to allude to this earlier concerning his legacy (Eccl 2:17-21)
Perhaps he knew his son Rehoboam would not be a good ruler (he wasn’t), and lose a large portion of the kingdom to another man (Jeroboam) who was not of royal birth. We can’t know for sure but this is what took place after Solomon’s death (1 Kings Chap 12).
From the beginning of Ecclesiastes, Solomon laments what he sees as an endless cycle of life and death on earth under the sun. Even great people are forgotten by later generations and history repeats itself.
Solomon knows that whoever succeeds him might enjoy the goodwill of people for a while but it won’t last. Leaders come and go. They may enjoy favor for a time but fall out of favor after a season. This is true of leaders in business, ministry, and politics.
As a fellow pastor said of a new and apparent pastoral success in our town— ”a new broom sweeps clean.”
Whether it’s a product or a person, the new and different gains attention and favor at first, but gets replaced with some newer, shinier object later.
Change for the sake of change is an empty and shallow hope.
Existential Reflections
When change is imminent, what is your usual response?
If you know a specific change will take place and affect your life, do you feel anxious about it or excited? I’d guess most of us tend to have some anxiety when we anticipate a change.
Some people are influenced by what others say about an upcoming change, while others may be indifferent. Even those of us who think we aren’t so influenced by others might be surprised how the opinion of others affects us.
When a popular product is updated to a newer version, there’s a build-up to the release in order to create anticipation and excitement among avid fans.
Various experts give their inside analysis and best guesses of what’s to come. Devoted users of the product line up with excitement for hours when the latest and greatest version is released. I see this whenever Apple or a similar company offers their new and improved laptop, phone, or watch.
When it comes to presidential elections, many people are tied up in knots with anxiety and worry over what the results reveal. And yet, decade after decade, the nation moves on with life.
After change comes, even drastic change, life goes on. People adapt to new circumstances and situations, even in the direst of conditions.
Oftentimes, whatever worries people had been overcome with the necessities of everyday life. And that shiny new product? Well, the newness wears off and life continues pretty much as it was before.
Change isn’t just constant, it’s inevitable.
Whether we are eager for it or resistant to it, the change will come. But how we handle the constancy of change impacts our physical, psychological, and spiritual health.
The simplest and healthiest way to deal with change in our lives is to trust God with a continuing commitment to living by faith. He knows what’s in the future and how it will impact us.
As Jesus said, “So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt 6:34).
When you know changes are coming in your life, how does this affect you?
Do you often find yourself hoping for or looking for something new and different?
Change will come—in our lives and in the world around us. But as we entrust our lives and our concerns to the Lord, He will carry us through these times of change.
Just as we can be certain that changes will come, we can be confident in the One who holds tomorrow in His hands.
This is an excerpt from my newest book available on Amazon! Glimmers of Light in the Darkness of Life
The Scripture text for this devotional study can be found by clicking the blue button link– “Ecclesiastes Chap 4” [I’ve used God’s Word Translation (GW) for ease of reading but the button link will take you to the text in a parallel version with the NKJV text.]
Also, for further commentary, I recommend Enduring Word by Ptr David Guzik.
