“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 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 from embracing, 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. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 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.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 NIV
For those of you who have known this news for awhile you’re probably going to read this and think “‘it’s about time’ this girl announced it!” For those of you who do not know yet, I’M GOING ON THE WORLD RACE! I’ll be posting a vlog with more information and answers to common questions but if I don’t answer your question please don’t hesitate to ask me!
So… my intentions for this post are not only to announce that I’ll be leaving with the World Race in August 2018, but to also share something that has recently been on my heart. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11! Wooh buddy! I could spend my whole life just trying to break down those passages. Several years ago I listened to a series on Ecclesiastes (Matt Chandler at The Village Church) and it has since become my favorite book of the Bible. Time and time again not only has this passage come up in my life but the entire book seems to be a recurring theme! This year God has really been teaching me the importance of HIS perfect timing and that my version of “perfect timing” might look a lot different. I know it seems like this idea may be a little overstated, but can it ever really be? I need a reminder daily that God is infinite and I’m only 23! That means God knows a lot more things than I do and it makes it easier (not necessarily easy) to trust His timing.
I might write on some specific things later in my blogs if I feel so compelled, but for right now and for the sake of time I’ll just say, this year has been loaded with moments where I’ve had to say “God I don’t understand, so just help me trust your timing.” It might not have always come out so eloquently in the moment but deep down that’s been my heart’s intent.
This passage pretty much covers every spectrum of life from mourning to dancing and from life to death! I don’t know about you but it gives me such a peace knowing that all of these things, the good, the bad, and the ugly, do not go unseen by God. That “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” To participate in The World Race has been a desire of mine since I was 19 years old. That’s four years of resisting the urge to rush into things (which if you know me, you know that’s asking a lot) and I’ve had to trust in His timing. Through a series of events combined with much prayer it has become clear that this is NOW TIME! PRAISE THE LAMB!
In my short 23 years I have learned, there are hard times and there are good times. It’s important to not lose sight of God in the bad and only praise Him in the good! I’ve had some sweet times with the Lord in moments of embrace, laughter, and healing, but I’ve had some of the most raw and intimate moments with the Lord in the times of weeping, mourning, and uprooting. These moments ultimately have helped shape who I am as a person and have given me a closer look at who God is. He was not surprised by things that may have shaken you, because He’s infinite and knows all things so trust Him because it’s about time!
