Lent Day #18

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter 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.

THOUGHTS:

There is a time for everything ... but it isn't black and white. We aren't issued an agenda at birth detailing the "times" in our lives. No one has given me a daily planner for today with instructions like:

6:20 AM - time for showering

7:04 AM - time to gather stones together

7:52 AM - time to dance

8:32 AM - time to meditate on world peace

10:06 AM - time to sew

10:25 AM - time to lose car keys

11:58 AM - time to hate

12:03 PM - time to trip and fall in front of a mocking crowd

12:30 PM - time to laugh

3:19 PM - time to seek lost car keys

4:24 PM - time to keep silence

6:01 PM - time to eat cake

7:32 PM - time for peace

8:43 PM - time to refrain from embracing

9:19 PM - time to build up

And on and on ... day after day ...

Sometimes we don't know which "time" we are experiencing. Yes, sometimes we have a pretty good guess ... someone looks at your and prompts you with your name, you know it is time to speak, right?

Yet most of life is lived in the foggy areas between joy and sorrow. We usually don't live on the extremes. We struggle with when it is time to keep things versus when it is time to clear out the clutter. Life happens in the midst of the big colorful spectrum between black and white. There are times when we can actually be torn between laughing and weeping.

How do you deal with this?

Is it the same time for everyone at once? Can it be time for you to plant while it is time for the person down the hall to pluck up? Experience tells us that when it is time for someone else to speak, it may be time for us to keep silent, right?

What time is it for you, right now?

Does everyone experience all times? Must I experience a time to kill? I don't think so. Then again, I admit I've killed many ants who invaded *my* house. The fact they were there when we bought the place certainly didn't detour me. I decided what time it was for them...it was time to die.

What about hate? Are there times when we should hate? Personally, I sincerely hope not. Sure, Jesus got angry, turning over the tables of the money-changers in the temple...but hate? Based on the example of Jesus, it appears to me that when others are hating, it's probably our time to love...

What do *YOU* think?

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, thank you for a life full of such wonder and diversity. Thank you for creating "time" for so many things and experiences. Help us to figure out our role in all of this. Help us to know when it is time for peace. Help us have the wisdom to know when to keep silence. Help us to have the courage to love in the time when it is needed most. We pray these things in Jesus name, AMEN.

NOTES:

Feel free to share these devotions with your friends. To read past devotions you've missed, visit http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com/

Also, I've recently updated past posts there to include more links to relevant information when I reference a person or book. Enjoy!