1 There
is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a
time to die, a time
to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a
time to kill and a time to heal, a
time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time
to weep and a time to laugh, a
time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a
time to gather them, a time to
embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time
to search and a time to give up, a
time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time
to tear and a time to mend, a
time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time
to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes
3:1-8, ESV).
I lived in the Northeast
my whole life. Year after year watching
the seasons come and go. Although I may
not like all the changes, the extreme heat in summer or the cold and snow in
winter, I never wanted to live someplace without them. It just wouldn’t be the same having winter
without snow, the early blooms in spring, the heat of summer, or the cool air
and colorful leaves in the fall. Naturally,
year after year the seasons come and they go.
As each season approaches its end, I’m ready for new season coming
in. However, I wouldn’t mind if winter
was shorter!
Years back in the fall, I
was house cleaning for an older Jewish couple.
It was their summer residence and they were getting ready to head south. As I was finishing the kitchen, the Mrs. and
I began to talk about the different seasons.
I could just hear her husband calling her, “Be, Be.” Her name was Beatrice but he called her Be
and repeated it. I mentioned that the
fall was my favorite season, the crisp cool weather, the leaves, and my
birthday was in the fall. Her response
was, I hate the fall, it’s the season everything dies. I stood there thinking, “I just said I was
born in the fall, I had never thought of fall being the season everything dies,
but thanks for putting the thought in my head that the season I was born is the
season of death.” After the initial
shock of feeling somewhat insulted, I realized that’s just her, blunt and often
cold as usual. I didn’t know that much
about her. I knew she was wealthy. I later found out the man I knew to be her
husband was her second marriage. He, as
well as some others that resided in that summer community, had tattooed numbers
from being in Holocaust camps, but I don’t know about her. Looking back now, I’m wondering about the
seasons of her life. What was the “weathering” in her seasons of life that
brought her to who she was?
Looking at the list above
in this verse, how about the seasons in your life? How have they weathered you?
Currently in my life, I’m
feeling a time for change, new season coming.
I’m sensing I’m not the only one.
Lord, You have a time and a season for everything in
our lives. Thank you for every season of
life, even the hard ones! No matter what
season, situation, or place we have been or ever will be, You have a purpose in
it. I pray for the new seasons that are
coming. Prepare us for the changes You have
for Your church, the nation, and in each one of our lives individually. In Jesus Name, Amen.
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