Is there a season in your life that you look back on and think, Those were the good old days?

I remember the summer I was seventeen—old enough to have a driver’s license and a job; young enough to have no serious expenses or responsibilities. My friends and I spent those months before senior year on the lakes (Michigan has more than 11,000 of them!), creating scavenger hunts around town, swimming in the downtown fountain, and buying half-price Chinese food at closing time. They were glory days for sure.

We love how things were. Sometimes we even love how things are. And, boy, does time have a way of softening our memories.

When things are good, we want them to stay that way forever. And when things are bad, we long for the good old days.

But here’s the thing: If I had stayed seventeen forever, I would have missed out on having a seventeen-year-old of my own—a child I now indeed have. He’s tall enough to give me big bear hugs, he drives his sister to school, and he meets his friends for a burrito almost every day before lacrosse practice because his metabolism demands five square meals a day. These may be his glory days, but they somehow feel like mine all over again, too.

If we insist now that these are the best days of our life, we end up doubting that God has new, good things for us still ahead.

We also end up forgetting that with God, our good old days are always ahead of us.

In the book of Ezra, the returning exiles recalled the glory days of Jerusalem, some with firsthand memories. God’s presence was with them in the temple, the city was protected, and the favor of the Lord was on them and against their enemies.

As they returned to the city, they found themselves caught in the tension of looking backwards to what used to be—even relearning the law they had forgotten—while believing God would carry them into a new future.

There’s a wonderful moment when they reestablish Passover and confess their sin. But that would also mean continuing to trust God with their future as they walked forward in obedience.

Not unlike the Israelites in Ezra, you and I have the opportunity to look back to relearn and remember what God has done. It is always wise and faith-building to recall all the Lord has done, and remember His “wonderful deeds of long ago” (Psalm 77:11). But after that, don’t keep gazing into the past.

Turn around, believing God’s presence and provision will follow you into the future. Keep your eyes up—at the yet-unfulfilled promises God has made in His Word.

For God’s people in Ezra, that meant looking forward toward Christ. For we who are in Christ, this means we look forward to His work in the Church throughout the globe, and His promise that He is making all things new.

God has “good old days” and new things ahead for us. Onward and upward!

“With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:
“He is so good!
His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”
Then all the people gave a great shout,
praising the Lord because
the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid”
Ezra 3:11.

Excerpt from The Bible Is For You, edited by Raechel Myers and Amanda Williams.

For deeper reflection, listen to Ezra 3 today!

Be Inspired by our conversation with Raechel on Her STORY Podcast!