Daily Devotions – The Lord is in every season

Daily Devotions – The Lord is in every season

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 NIV
A Time for Everything

3 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. 9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before, and God will call the past to account.

 

— How do you differentiate enjoying yourself from going too far?

 

Everything in the world and in life is subject to change. There are 4 different seasons in each year where I see how changes in nature transform around me right before my eyes. The same is true in life. There are multiple seasons of transformation between birth and death. Each season has its own character, benefits, and challenges.  You have appointed the times and seasons, the events of my life, the happy and the sad, the easy and the difficult. Change has helped me to learn to adapt to new situations and to grow inside. Change stretches me. It challenges me by causing me to grow through the trials and tribulations of life. Some changes are out of my control and I feel helpless. Health issues, crime, national debt, abortion, murder, and hate are on the rise, and changes in the country and the world seem to be spinning out of control. It can be pretty discouraging. Some changes are not from You and I need to reject them. Help me to know the difference in what changes I need to accept from those that I need to reject. You have set eternity in my heart as my guide. Help me to remember that at all times You are in control. You have a purpose in what You do even if I have a hard time understanding what that purpose is. Help me to trust that You are not surprised by the changes I experience. They may be new to me, but they are not new to You. You know the beginning and the end and I am where You want me to be right now. You will provide all of my needs in every season because You love me so much. I thank You, God, that You are unchangeable. I can count on You to always be there. You won’t’ change Your mind about me. You have made everything beautiful in Your time. Thank You, Lord. Amen