A Time For Everything

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

Do you have a favorite season? Do you prefer summer when it’s hot and you can spend the day swimming or playing outside until the sun goes down late? Or maybe you prefer winter when it’s cold and you can go sledding. Maybe spring is your favorite season. Flowers begin to bloom and spread their color after the darkness of winter. Or perhaps you love the fall, when leaves turn red, orange, and yellow and make the trees look like a flaming fire.

God created the times and seasons. He’s set the events of your life in motion—the happy times and sad, the good times and bad. There will be times in your life when you rejoice and times when you grieve. There will be times when you accomplish a lot and times when you feel less motivated. There will be times when everything goes your way and days when you feel as if nothing will go right. Life constantly changes. That’s the way it’s always been. The good thing is that God is in control, and he will be with you every day.

You can’t always control the things that happen in your life, but you can determine that you’ll have a good attitude during both the good and bad times. You can let the things that happen draw you closer to God and make you more like Jesus rather than let life’s circumstances make you either bitter or proud. And in all of it you can decide to obey God and follow his leading no matter what is happening.

God knows what each season will bring you in your life, and he works through the events in ways you can’t always see. The important thing is to trust him and allow him to use life’s events to guide you and to accomplish his will.

Read Ecclesiastes 3 about the changing seasons of life. Then jot down a list of things that don’t change. You might include God’s Word (the answers you get from the Bible), the Holy Spirit guiding you, and God’s love. What else can go on your list?