Friday, May 7, 2010

The seasons of life

Ecclesiastes is hard for me to read since I never know whether or not to read the wisdom as Solomon's wisdom from God or if it is one of those things he changes and says that there is no meaning to this.  It's kind of like reading Job and taking the counsel from the friends of Job and saying it is good and then realizing it was not good and that his friends were misled.  All that to say, even though I have to be a bit careful to read it in context, I have always liked what Solomon said in Eccl. about the times and the seasons.  Since I began this walk with God, I have embraced the whole thing about all things are perfect in God's time and that there are seasons in life.  It has helped me time and time again to be content with where I'm at in life, realizing that not everything in my life on this earth happens at one time, but over the span of my life.  It has helped me to embrace the present and live it with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength for the Lord and His glory.  I thank the Lord that when I was a young mother I could be just that, a young mother with  young children.  Now I am in a new season, I am older and have older children, and I am content with that as well .  Since I have always valued the wisdom of God in Ecclesiastes about the times and seasons, I have known that this new season was coming and  I have been prepared for the change of seasons in my life.  There is peace in knowing a God who is Lord of the various seasons of our lives. Thanking Him today that He has been  with me through the changing of the seasons! He knows what He is doing and has a plan that continues to unfold.

Ecc. 3:1  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.
Eccl.3:11  He has made everything appropriate in its time.
Eccl. 8: 5-6 He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man's trouble is heavy upon him. (This verse is good to me, because it acknowledges that it is not easy and that the troubles can still be heavy on us, but even with this, there is a proper procedure and time. It always seems to come back to trusting Him to bring it about).