A Time For Everything

I'm pondering this week some big questions (once again!), asking why, and wondering where things are headed.  I once heard a wise man say that, in life, we are either in a storm, headed into a storm, or coming out of a storm. 

My mind has often gone back to that concept over the past several weeks, as it seems something has shifted for me - I feel like I was finally out of the storm - the sun was starting to shine again.  And, how sweet was the kiss of warmth on my face that I have missed all this time.

But, like everything in this world, nothing lasts forever.  Call it a sixth sense, or intuition, or whatever you like, but I can sense something stormy headed our way.  Like a hiker on a Colorado mountaintop, when their hair suddenly and strangely stands on end just before a lightning strike, I can feel something... different - I just don't know what.  Yet.

And so, in this time of feeling just a bit helpless and vulnerable, I turn to the one source of strength and consistency that I know.  And I'm reminded that it is in the storms of life that true character is built.  It is in the storms of life that we are refined and strengthened to weather the next storm (and there will be plenty).  The last storm sapped my energy during that season, but I have emerged feeling stronger and less fearful - after all, if I can survive that...

So, I'm leaving you with a portion of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes.  For everything there is a time, and for everything there is a purpose.  Our task is to stick with it, weather the storm, cling to our Rock, and help each other the best we can.

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.