It’s Time…

“It’s time...”

Variations of this phrase can bring nervous excitement or anxious dread. Perhaps it’s a nurse letting you know the doctor is ready for you in the operating room. Or maybe it’s a stagehand that’s about to pull back the curtain for your big solo. Maybe it’s the Exam Proctor that says, “Time’s up. Pencils down, please.” 

There is a passage of scripture that has been helpful to me recently. I needed a reminder to let go of some anxious thoughts and realize that I am not in control. I needed a reminder that it’s better to hold onto things with a light grip than a tight fist. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 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 from embracing, 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.” 

While I understand most of these phrases, I’d love to ask the author about a few of them. Why would he write that there is a time to refrain from embracing? What’s the idea behind scattering stones? And how can you say that there is a time to give up when we’ve always been taught to never give up? 

There are two things that I notice right away about this passage... 

One, if I’m honest, I really don’t want there to be a time for bad things. Were it up to me, I would delete half of this list and do away with all the negative things!  

Two, it’s helpful to slow down and examine your stage/time of life. If we only live for the “good things” in life, we will be devastated when something bad happens. And if we only live for the “bad things” in life, we will become jaded and cynical, not seeing the good in any situation. God is in all and can work through it all, the good and the bad. He is the light that is behind the shadow...the silver lining to the dark cloud. He hasn’t promised that we won’t have tears, but He has promised that they won’t last forever. 

So, what time is it for you?  

Blessings, 

Franklin