A Time for Everything

 God, our amazing Creator, has blessed His people with so much.  He has put into motion every thing that exists.  Let's take a look at Ecclesiastes 3:

 ¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance, 

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away, 

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, 

   a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

 ⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.



Last week I talked about Thanksgiving being my 'favorite' of all the holidays.  Nothing has changed...it is still my favorite.  Today, I want to talk about my 'seasons.'  I have always said that Fall is my favorite of the four seasons...however, I think that I am now leaning a little more towards Spring.  I still love Fall.  There is just a 'crispness' in the air as the leaves begin to change and fall from their earlier homes.  Yes, I love Fall.  Spring, on the other hand is a time of newness and growth.  I love the freshness of the air in Springtime.  I love the sound of the birds chirping.  I love the new buds on all the trees.  I really love to see the flowering trees in all their glory.  I have a beautiful tree in my yard...well, it's not really a 'pretty' tree most of the time, but in the Spring when it flowers it is gorgeous. 

I don't know where you live, but I live in a place where we have all four seasons:  Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  I've said a time or two that I'd love to live where it's warm all year long.  However, I really don't think I would like that at all.  You see, as much as I dislike Winter, I love that God created it.  I am thankful that He has created the 'changes' in our seasons.  I'm not particularly fond of Summer, either, when it's 100° outside with 80% humidity!  Again, I am still thankful that God has created the change from Spring into Summer and Summer into Fall. 

All that leads me to this...God has created seasons in our lives as well.  As our Scripture said, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:"  God gives us good times and bad times.  He doesn't make the bad times, but He allows them in our life.  Often, the bad times in our life are due to choices we have made.  That's a blog for another day and time.  Take a long look at verses 1 thru 8.  Read them slowly and purposefully.  When you begin to understand that the 'seasons' of our life are created and allowed by God, the creator...read the rest of the chapter.  Verses 9 thru 14 are powerful words.  Verse 11 tells how God has made everything beautiful in its time!  There is nothing that God made that is not beautiful.  To our eyes something may not be beautiful, but to God...all things and people are beautiful. 

I encourage you to study this chapter.  Prayerfully it will help you to understand that every season in your life - good or bad - is dictated by God.  I love the good times in my life and I am learning to like the bad times.  I even pray that I will learn to love them.

Have a thankful day in the Lord,