Ecclesiastes 3:1
It is Spring in my neck of the woods as I write this and Summer will soon be here. While on the other side of the planet friends are enjoying Autumn and preparing for Winter. Nature has its seasons and with each change so changes the landscape. Our lives also have seasons. Some of the seasons of our lives are bleak and cold like winter and some exciting and hot like summer. Personally I would prefer to have life seasons that are calm and mild, like spring or fall. However, just as nature has no choice to run each of its seasons, so must we as we journey on this planet.
The writer of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes in contemplating life tells his audience just that in this week’s verse. He continues with a list of times or seasons we may all at some time face – some good, some not. Some inevitable, some not. Jesus talking about the sheep thief and the Shepherd says that, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10b). How do we go about living abundantly?
When life is going well and good stuff is happening we all know what abundant living looks like - we share with everyone we know about the amazing stuff happening in our lives and we celebrate those especially exciting seasons – graduations, weddings, milestone anniversaries, the arrival of babies, job promotions, sports victories and more. During these seasons it is also easy to praise the Lord for what He has done, what He has helped us to accomplish.
There are other seasons in life that make us wonder where God and that whole abundant life thing has gone. We forget what having abundant life looks like when the doctor has bad news, that job promotion turns into unemployment, that beautiful baby, becomes a rebellious, runaway teen, someone we love dies, a marriage ends and we can’t seem to win at anything. In our humanness we are inclined to withdraw from life. We don’t want to share what is really happening in our lives so we put on a mask and say we’re fine when really we feel alone and abandoned by everyone including God. But it doesn’t have to be like that. The writer of Ecclesiastes says: “That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God. 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 men will revere him” (Ecclesiastes 3:13-14). The Prophet Habakkuk after talking about a bunch of bad stuff that could happen writes: “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:18).
So here’s the thing - when we find ourselves in an unpleasant season – we still need to live abundantly. We need to share with others what is going on with us, no doubt we’ll discover that we are not alone. We should celebrate, even if that means working through the pain with grace and compassion for others and most importantly we must worship God in the midst of our storm season.
As I write this, this sky is blue, the sun is shining, temperatures should be mild – that seems to match the life season I am in at this moment. Where are you though? Is life exciting and filled with easy celebrations or does it seem bleak with nothing to celebrate?
I want to encourage you that no matter what kind of season you find yourself in right now live in it. Celebrate the smallest things and worship God with all your heart.
A Prayer
Father – Even though it appears that the writer of Ecclesiastes is pessimistic in his view he does ultimately show us that in You and only You we can find joy and contentment. Help us to live abundantly in every season of our lives. Help us to stand with others who need to see that You sent Your Son to give abundant life to all who will believe. In the name of Jesus, who gives us abundant life in every season – Amen.
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