Life is cyclical. From sunrise to sunset, everything moves season to season, upsides and downsides, highs and lows. I think it is difficult for us in the Western world, with our Western mindset, to comprehend the principle of time and season. We believe anything less than the high is unproductive and wasted time.
And yet, in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 we see a completely different perspective.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
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,
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.
He has made everything beautiful in its time."
Too often I fight the season I am in because I want to be on the other side of the cycle. And I imagine that I am not alone in this.
We want to plant roots and dig deep, and God is calling us to uproot and make a change.
We want to dance and laugh, and God has us in a moment of mourning and tears.
We want to be silent, when God is calling us to speak.
In whatever circumstances God has allowed us to be, may we remember that we let go of our preconceived ideas, hopes, dreams, and plans, not to be left empty-handed, but to be free to embrace the new.
And remember...he makes everything - everything - beautiful in its time.