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Seeds of the Kingdom

A Time and Season For Everything

by Diane Watson

28 November 2017

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Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV

We are probably all familiar with the passage from Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.
It speaks about God’s timing of everything. There are times and seasons for every activity under heaven. We can all go through different seasons in our life.

Winter can be a season when it feels cold and bleak. There’s death and darkness, but also it brings freshness as there’s death to the old ways or to self. Spring can be a season of new beginnings as new life springs into being, a new adventure, hope and refreshment. Summer can be a season of fullness, of resting, blooming and spreading. Autumn can be a season of coolness, with shedding of the old, a time to purge, just as trees lose their leaves, ready for a new season.

Each season has its own beauty. Each season is of great importance, and none is better, or less important than the other. We’d never appreciate summer if we didn’t go through winter. If things were the same all the time it would be dull and boring. We can grow and change for good through the seasons, just as a giant oak grows, sleeps, sheds its leaves, then blossoms and bears much fruit, we can also grow and flourish through the seasons. God gives us contrasts to appreciate every moment of time that He’s bestowed on us. Time is a gift. We should appreciate it, and not wish it away, or want it to stand still. God is outside of time, but all time is in His hands – He has a perfectly appointed time for everything.

We can often get impatient with God, when we’re waiting for something to happen. We ask “When will I get married”, “When will I have a child?” or “When will I get rich?” But what happens if this never comes to pass? We know that God has our lives ordered for our good and not for harm. He made time, and He made seasons. Who are we that we should tell God that His timing’s wrong?

Can we trust God’s timing for us? Do we use our time wisely, honouring God and bringing glory to Him? He wants us to enjoy the time we have on this earth, to have fun and delight in Him, and He in us. We might ask the question “What season or time are we in at present?” But can we trust God to heal or deliver or change the season we’re in right now? Can we trust Him with the timing of everything in our lives? I know that He’s trustworthy. I can’t always understand His timing, but if I trust Him, I’ll see the picture more clearly. Can we ask God to help us accept the season we’re in now, to believe that God is with us in every season of our lives, and choose to thank Him for that season?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that the timing and season for everything is in Your hands. Help me to trust You more and not grumble or complain. I know that You have the very best for me, as I put my trust in You. Thank You Father that You know the beginning from the end, and we don’t, so help us to trust You more. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Diane Watson is Deputy Centre Director of Ellel Pierrepont. Her husband Paul is Centre Director of Pierrepont and Regional Director of Australia Pacific and India. They have 4 adult children and 8 grandchildren. Diane had the vision for the first Australian Ellel Centre at Gilbulla, near Sydney, and was its Centre Director for the first 5 years.

 

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