Life seems to be full of opposing forces. I find myself wavering between two extremes nearly all the time. Good and bad. Needs and wants. Highs and lows. Quiet and noise. Boredom and busyness. Happiness and sadness. Paper and computers. Diet and regular. And on and on…
Just last week I found myself totally distracted because I couldn’t get my life and my time in order. Nothing seemed to go ‘just right’. I felt like I was busy doing absolutely nothing. Ever felt that way? I ended up with a very unproductive work week, no blog post, very lazy devotion times, and an uncaring attitude. I am constantly advising friends to ‘take a step back’, get some perspective, and try to see things from God’s point of view. It was time to take my own advice.
More often than not, Scripture gives me perspective,so I turned to the formidable seeker of wisdom, Solomon. He writes of the great pendulum we call life:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
I don’t know about you, but every time I read those verses, I don’t really read them. I skim them. I’m not even sure why (maybe it’s the predictability of the opposites). But since I needed to search Scripture for perspective and this is where I landed, I decided to do something new with these verses. I thought of an example of each one of those hefty action verbs from my own life. Shortly into this exercise, I found myself remembering the things I learned from each one of these ‘times’ in my life. Every single one was an important step in my walk with Christ and made me more in love with Him.
He wants you closer, too. Make a move nearer to Him. You won’t be disappointed.
Since you might be humming this tune anyway, here is a link to Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds. I’m partial to it because that’s one of my cousins playing the drums. May you TURN towards Jesus today!!
INTERTWINED 