What Time Is It?
Good Morning Friends,
So much of the Olympics reminds us that the clock is ticking but today’s scripture, in poetry, reminds us of another measurement than seconds, minutes, hours, and days. It tells us that there is a season for everything. A season for Birth…Life; Death and Resurrection. So if you would you like for God to make something beautiful out of the mistakes and brokenness and garbage in your life, just wait. Would you like God to create in you a longing for something more than life? Give God a little time and God may well set eternity in your heart. Would you like for God to bring life to you? Believe in Him and He will bring you peace that passes understanding. Indeed, when you live in harmony with God’s time, life becomes beautiful. It can be transformational. There are still things you will never know and yet at some level it no longer matters. There is an underlying reality that is the Jesus Way. When reflected in you the world changes. The beast is replaced by beauty… the garbage replaced with enduring grace. Friends, God knows your unfilled expectations and experiences. God knows best the pace of your life and when to act. Still we want to know whether Kairos or Cronos. What Time Is It?
Scripture: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, 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 (NRSV)
Message: We serve a God of seasons… a God that works in history… a God that works between the opposites in our lives as well as in them. There is a time for everything but least we forget, God is in all time. We are familiar with tourist seasons, football and basketball seasons. We just are just starting the “Back to School” season. But we see seasons most vividly and dramatically in creation….the seasons of the year… as we revolve around the Sun. In Florida our rainbow and spectacular sunset season coincides interestingly enough with the hurricane season. Spiritually we feel it in the liturgical year as we revolve around the life of the Son. But there is a season to our lives as well and a purpose for the process that is even more passionate than what happens over the course of one year. Somehow life in God creates a longing in us to be more…to love more. Some seasons we, of course, like better than others, but each season has a reason. We learn that new seasons bring change… new seasons bring challenges… new seasons birth new champions. And amazingly somehow as part of this process, God takes all the collective experiences of our lives and eventually makes something beautiful out of all the loose ends. God makes life beautiful in His time, even as our solar system orbits the center of our galaxy in a 250 million year cycle that contains seasons we have yet to experience.
Pray that we learn not to miss a season in our lives. Pray that our timing is right. Pray that our lives are ordered. Pray that we take advantage of the benefits of each season. Pray that we learn the right things to do and then do them. Pray that we step into the new season as a champion ready to claim the prize. Pray that we are transformed, sanctified and then sent. Pray that we are restored to usefulness for that truth is the most beautiful part of His creation. Pray we not get ahead of God. Pray we learn and enjoy the rewards of being patient. Pray we realize that God can make anything beautiful. Pray we trust the Lord and rejoice in all things with thanksgiving.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 