“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 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, 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 does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
Update:
So, I haven’t blogged in about two months. To my supporters and people who follow my blog I am sorry. I am in Mozambique right now at a boys home in Beira called Kedesh. I am leaving today 2/3/12 to go back to Maputo to visit other teams for the week before heading to Swaziland. We are heading into the last month of Africa for us, and the last four months of the race. Wow, how the race has flown by.
Back to the blog:
This month has been so good to be with the boys here at Kedesh. They are amazing! They are so full of life and love. For me personally I have felt pretty dry. I feel like I am in a spiritual desert. A couple days ago I was reading through Ecclesiastes and when I read chapter 3 I was blown away.
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. There is a time for a spiritual desert and a time for a spiritual jungle. There is a time for everything. This is so comforting. To know that everything has a time and place under heaven and the Lord works in seasons is so refreshing. Our God is not a God of stagnation. He moves like the seasons and has a time for everything. He is good in all he does. The verses that hit me the hardest are 12 and 13. “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God”.
Why do we feel as though God wants us to be miserable on this earth? Why do we feel as though we can’t enjoy our life? God wants us to be happy! He wants us to enjoy his creation! Why? Because He loves us more than we could ever fathom. This verse is not saying to throw your inhibitions to the wind. God is not saying to indulge in gluttony. He isn’t saying just do whatever you want to do without Him.
He is saying that He wants us to be happy. He wants us to enjoy life!
“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”.
-James 4: half of verse 14
Our lives are way too short to not be happy. To not enjoy what God has blessed us with. He wants us to live every moment for Him. For even though there is a time for everything in life, even though there will be times of trouble, times of sadness, times of darkness…With Jesus those times will be short and few for Jesus brings peace, joy, light.
There is a time for everything under heaven. But with God we have joy, we have happiness, we have life! If you are living for Christ please….please….please hold onto Ecclesiastes 3! Now there is a time and season for EVERYTHING ! Know that God wants you to have joy! He wants you to be happy!
I don’t care who you are or what you’re going through. GOD LOVES YOU and cares for you more than you’ll ever know! Life is way too short to harbor in on the “nasty” things. God wants you to experience true joy, true love! Take hold of it and live in it!
These kids at Kedesh do this everyday. They have more joy and love in their lives and they really don’t have a reason to. They don’t have what we think brings joy or love. But, they actually have the one thing that brings true joy, true love, true happiness, true life! They have Jesus Christ!
