A time for every purpose...

Sometimes life just gets away from you. Things come up that are unexpected. You make decisions, and then the premise on which those decisions get made are challenged. In the end, you feel unsettled, unsteady, and a little teary. You wonder, "Did I make the right choices?"  "Was there something I should have done instead?" or even the dreaded "Who can I blame for life taking a difficult turn?"

With that question, we often lay the blame for our unexpected life on God. Because, in truth, there is sometimes no one to blame. There is just life, with its twists and turns and multiple outcomes. So whether it's career questions, health scares, or difficult relationships, every once in a while, we just have to accept that things won't progress the way we expected.

It's at those times that I remember the scripture from Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, made famous to the religious and irreligious alike by singer Pete Seeger and the 1960's rock band, The Byrds.

 1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
    a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
    a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
    a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
    a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
    a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
    a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
    a time for war, and a time for peace.

If we think, as people of faith, that God's love for us will protect us from trouble, sickness, doubt or death, then we misunderstand who God is. If we think, as people who have no faith, that God is a mixture of Santa Claus and Aladdin's magic genie, then we have mislead about what God's relationship has been with God's people throughout time.

I know that my current situation is par for the course. If there have been fewer troubles than normal in my life, I feel blessed. Or maybe it's not that there are fewer troubles, but that I see challenges as opportunities to grow and serve, rather than as a curse on my life. If I am not handling these changes very well right now, then I ask for prayers for me to see God's presence in the midst of the challenge, and to be reminded that I am not alone.

In his book, Where is God When it Hurts?, author Philip Yancey calls suffering "a problem that won't go away" and "the gift that no one wants." I don't really think of my current state as one of suffering, but I do feel a kind of burden at many the uncertain circumstances that surround me right now.  Yancey reminds us that at the times when things are going well, we don't remember that we need God, but when things take a turn for the worse, we feel as if God has turned away from us or slammed a door in our face.

But in reality, pain can be a gift.  It tells when things are going wrong. And it is one of the ways that we are reminded that this life is not be lived alone. Family and friends help us to bear the pains and disappointment that are normal to life. They are one of the ways that God's presence is made real for us, and as we are loved and cared for, we understand more fully the circle of life ... for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose in our lives.

Many of you are in a place similar to mine. Your parents are getting older. Cancer or chronic illness is rearing its ugly head. You are separated from many of the people you love. Times of change are coming closer and soon life will enter a new phase.

We hate change. We do everything we can to avoid pain. But, in reality, both change and pain remind us that we are alive and moving forward in life.

So embrace the experience before you. Live and love to your fullest possibility. Receive the inevitable changes as an opportunity to grow and serve. And know that God is right beside you, present in friend and stranger alike, and helping you in any ways that you are willing to receive.

And if things are going really well for you right now, be that one who holds others up in the midst of their needs, and the changes that can come when least expected.

Peace, Deb