EVERYTHING IN DUE TIME

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

A friend is diagnosed with cancer. Surgery follows as does chemotherapy. He is in a season of affliction.

A former work acquaintance retired this last week. She is entering a season of rest and freedom from labor.

A Sunday School class member loses her mother, someone she has been very close to for many years. She has entered a season of loss.

My daughter and family are returning to the United States after around five years in Germany. They are in a season of transition.

Several people I know on Facebook have just had babies. They are entering into a season of parenthood while their newborns enter into the season of life, a life that will be full of seasons.

What season are you in right now? We all are in one season or another. And although these seasons seem to be random in nature, it’s important to remember that through the tapestry of our lives, God is weaving the threads. He has been, is, and will always be in control.

This is the overall message of this well known passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes, perhaps the best known of all the scripture within the book. Solomon certainly struck a chord through these eight verses, giving us words we can all relate to. For in them, we catch a glimpse of the human experience, a snapshot of the things we experience in life at one time or another.

Babies are born on any given day while other lives are ending.

There is a time when vegetables and fruits are planted and a later time when they need to be harvested.

There are times when we laugh and enjoy good times. There are other times when we go through hardship and find ourselves in tears.

There are times in life when we accumulate things and times when we clean up and get rid of things (spring cleaning anyone?).

And there are times when we should speak up and times we should be silent and listen.

Perhaps this passage today is one of those times we should be quiet and receive the wisdom of God as it pertains to our lives.

For as we take in these verses, we must keep in mind that these times and seasons in life are not random but rather dictated by the Master Orchestrator of all things, the One who created us, the One who loves us and wishes us all to experience an eternal season at this life’s end through His Son Jesus Christ.

Yes, as Solomon states, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens but we can’t read these words and think that man has something to do with creating or causing these times and seasons. If there is a time and season for everything, then for things to work according to the will of God, they have to happen at His perfect time. Everything happens in its due time and God determines the due time.

Out another way, man doesn’t dictate to God. God dictates to man.

So how do we handle these seasons when they come upon us? How do we ensure we are responding to these seasons in the right fashion? How can we make it through the difficult seasons of life?

The answer is easy. We turn to the One who is in control. For just as God controls our seasons and brings everything into being in its due time, He is there to help us through those times and seasons. I think the saying goes, “God will never bring you to something that He isn’t going to bring you through.” I have come to believe in this saying because I have experienced its truth over and over and over again. Our walk in life is one of faith, an ever growing faith and trust in the God who created us, the God who makes all things possible, even bringing us to life from death through His Son Jesus out of His deep love (John 3:16).

While everything happens in due time, thanks be to God that He is always in control and ever with us to help us weather even the harshest seasons under the heavens. For it’s the truth that brings us to a place of comfort and peace and hope, no matter what we go through.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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