He had learned some good things from pa; one was to do one thing at a time, not to cross bridges until he came to them, but at the same time to try to imagine how he could cross them when the time came.”
–Louis L’Amour (Down the Long Hills)
“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
–Isaiah 53:3 (NKJV)
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“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:”
–Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
This portion of Scripture, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, is probably one of the best known to the nonChurch-goer. They may only know a few snippets, but they are familiar with the first part of the first verse. There are surely seasons of life, just as there are seasons of the year. There is the sowing and the harvest time–a particular season. Even in that season there is a time to cultivate, a time to fertilize, and a time to inspect. After the harvest there is a time for the crop to be dormant.
The words of Ray C. Stedman should sound an alarm for all of us. He wrote, “Half of the problem of life is that we are constantly trying to run this schedule ourselves.” We say I am going to do such and such a thing. (That may be one of the things that makes God smile). In life, timing is everything. There is a time to begin to learn God’s Word, and there is a time to activate God’s Word in our lives. There are those special times when God may use us in a special way, therefore, we need to have His Word hidden in our hearts for that occasion. There is a time to learn God’s principles and cooperate with them.
There is a time to kill, and a time to heal. Oh my, there are those who do not like this verse. Kill? No, never, but there is a time. In fact, many people are in the process of killing themselves and their children. It is a slow death, and unless they come to the realization of Jesus Christ they will end up with the “second death” which is the Lake of Fire.
Someone has said that life seems fixed between a battlefield and a first-aid station. There are those evil people in the world–the Mafia so to speak, and there are the Mother Teresas. It has been determined that every seven years we are a “new person.” Cells are dying every day.
There is a time to break down and a time to build up (vs 3). The demolition crew comes in followed by the construction crew. Life is torn and life is rebuilt. Stedman remarks, “Type gets smaller and smaller, steps get higher and higher, trains go faster and faster, people speak in lower and lower tones…” I’ll add another, when falling the ground comes up faster and is harder.
Verse 4 calls to our attention, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh.” One thing for sure, none of us are going to get out of this world alive (unless the Rapture occurs). Death is a certainty no matter what science tries to do. C.S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone. He whispers to us in our pleasure, but He shouts to us in our pain.” The drunkard may laugh while he is partying, but the next morning a groan comes from his lips. Pleasure is fleeting, but pain gets our attention.
I will close today with some thoughts by Malcolm Muggeridge:
“Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it were to be possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence by means of some drug or other medical mumbo jumbo, as Aldous Huxley envisaged in “Brave New World,” the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal and trivial to be endurable. This, of course is what the Cross signifies. And it is the Cross, more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ.”
Perhaps now, would be a good time to look back at your life. Look at the “times” that have come your way. Look at how you reacted to them. Hmm, then look at how you should have reacted and perceived what was happening. What is God doing in your life through the “times” that have come your way?