With thanks to King Solomon and a nod to The Byrds (we all know where this is going), there is a season for all things in our lives. God, in His omniscience, has plans for each. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He has seen the peaks and valleys of all our lives. Many times, He will cause us to pause in our plans to allow us to rest or to take care of another, more timely need in our daily lives.
I don’t believe that this marks a failure on our part. We are still in the presence of God, and His love for us never pauses. I believe God has seen it from the beginning of Creation. For Him, there are no surprises.
3 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...
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, ESV
As, I hope, some of my readers will have noticed, my own life has had its seasons as well. I have been through many such changes in my life and most of them are overwhelmingly positive. After all, God does everything for our good, right? The season I have been going through since last I shared with you has been all-consuming.
So that I might allow you a little in-sight, I will give you a bit of a peak behind my curtain. About two years ago, after a long, improperly-diagnosed sickness, my wife was, we believe, correctly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. MS is a life shattering, incurable disease, which affects nearly every system in one’s body at seemingly random times.
I am certainly no doctor. In the simplest terms that I can convey–envision a circuit box in one’s electrical system (central nervous system) where the insulating coating has been stripped from some of the wiring. If one of those wires contacts something, anything, a short of sorts will occur, causing potentially disastrous results. A fall, memory loss, discomfort in crowds, and so much more. The disease itself will not kill one, but the symptoms sometimes feel like a death sentence.
I have become my dear wife’s sole caregiver. She no longer drives, for fear of becoming confused and lost, as often happens in our home. I do 99% of the cooking and most of the household tasks that many people take for granted. That is why our house looks like it does (the chores will still be waiting on us tomorrow or the next day). We have become very reclusive. Most have no clue of our daily lives. It is good that we like our solitude…
9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. Ecclesiastes 3:9-15, ESVI have revealed this to you, my Christian family, to encourage others who are going through their own change of season. Please pray to Almighty God that you will get the relief that you need. He is ready and very willing to listen. Reach out to family and friends, not for pity, but for the comfort and emotional support that the Body of Christ is meant to offer automatically to each other. Paul, in a letter to the church at Ephesus, tells us Jesus instructed us to build up each other. One cannot give if they do not know there is a need. And if someone offers to support you, for Christ’s sake, receive that which is offered.
I think that my attention to my wife and the service I could give her was to be my new concentration. The guilt that I have felt over not writing this blog was wasted energy. The new season should not have caused me any dis-ease. My discipleship has not diminished. If anything, my faith has increased as I truly learned about service to another. There was no failure to perform. God provided me the opportunity for my spiritual growth. As Christians, we sojourn on earth primarily to prepare us for our eternal life. We should listen for God’s voice in all things. He is always there to guide us.
Lastly, a pastor friend of mine recently offered something profound, a very simple concept, really. The Holy Spirit put these words in his mouth. To paraphrase, there is no blessing in giving if there is not first the blessing of receiving. The gift may be something as simple as the pure, heart-felt silence of sitting quietly with someone who is heavy-hearted. If you are offered, even the smallest gift of love, accept it so that you may both be blessed.
If I may offer a Prayer:
Almighty God, thank you for giving us the gift of unconditional Love. Help us to offer love and peace to all who are in need, not just as we celebrate the birth of Christ, but everyday throughout the year. In Jesus’ name and for his sake, Amen.
Kindness should be a fundamental building block to be taught to our children at an early age. It should go hand in hand with teaching a child to walk or speak or to practice good manners. What would our world look like today if every child learned to first be kind? There would be no need for gun control in a world where we practiced kindness first.
things to be pulled out and used upon occasion. I would tell them that their suitcase would also be unpacked at the time of their passing. The things that they had packed away would be seen, remembered by others. I would encourage them to fill their suitcase with integrity, kindness, faithfulness, generosity, and respect (for themselves and others). These traits would become the way that they would like to be remembered.