Life is a mixture to misquote Forrest Gump “Life isn’t a box of chocolates, you don’t know what you are going to get. It is a bit of a lolly mixture, some sour, some sweet, nor is it all happy or all sad, the reality is that we do go through seasons. Ecclesiastes 3 captures this well, one of the things I am trying to say in this meditation is that it is okay to display our emotions to God, but the relationship is two sided, are we prepared to place things at his feet, to move on, to trust and obey, despite not knowing what the full picture is, we know this he is faithful, just, he does have a plan for each of our lives.
Ecclesiastes 3 vs. 1-8 – A Time for Everything
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,
Sometimes life doesn’t seem fair and the unexpected ones leave us for heaven
Or things we think are secure disappear and life is far from being a hoot
Often the first thing we do is blame God, for it is ok to beat at the door of heaven
To let out the frustration, the pain, the angst, and tears, let it all hang out
But we need to give God a chance, ask his help and let him our lives leaven
For there is 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,
There are many different seasons in our lives both quiet and really wild
In all those seasons we need to wait on our God, to give him a chance
To actively work in our lives, to bring change and in us his word build
God desires that we have life in abundance, and there is 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,
We hold on to that we need to let go of and let God deal with, if we do don’t we him constrain
He calls us to cast our burdens upon him, yet we struggle to these words say:
“Father this isn’t for me to handle, I give over to you my burden” from this we shouldn’t refrain
We need to seek his will, he will show us what to keep and what 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.
There are different times and seasons in life in all these we need to God seek
If we with thanksgiving and supplication pray to him, he will give peace
To us which surpasses understanding, wait on him in his presence don’t speak
For as we trust in him we do not need to worry and our striving can cease
His promise to us “ I will never leave you or forsake you”, he will us safe keep
Through all the times of life our God is able to give us his perfect peace.
Mark Maffey, July 2008© (NIV) http://maffster.blogtown.co.nz/