Most of us are familiar with Ecclesiastes 3 either from hearing it read at church or from The Byrds 1965 song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” featuring its text. It says that there’s a time for everything in life. There’s time to tear down and time to build. There’s a time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to speak and a time to keep quiet. Solomon was essentially telling us that no matter what we are facing right now, we can expect change to come. The good times won’t last forever. That also means that neither will the bad times.
Solomon was very frank in the verses that follow the famous portion of this chapter. He says that it’s hard for us to know what God is up to. We can never see the full picture of what God is doing in our lives. That leaves us with a choice to make: we can be miserable in the circumstances we’ve been placed in or we can choose to be happy knowing that God is in control of our lives. Solomon chose the latter and we should be too.
He understood that there are things in life that are beyond our control. Life comes in waves. There are good times and bad times. I’m reminded of my visits to the beach. I like to wade out about waist deep where the waves are crashing and try to lean into them. Inevitably a big wave comes and knocks me off my feet. I go under, struggle for a bit and then remember to stand up. Then I go at it again. In life, we can choose to stand there and lean into the waves with our shoulders hoping we don’t get knocked down or we can ride the waves the way surfers do.
I’ve never been on a surf board, but my understanding is that the trick is having a good balance. I think that’s true in life too. We have to find that balance knowing that there will be times of joy and times of pain. To offset the difficult times in my life, I choose to look at the positive side of bad things. I know that God is working on my behalf even in tough times. I know that He is using them to shape me into the person He wants me to be. He uses them to push me to the places He wants me to go.
Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” I like the way the Amplified Version takes it a bit farther. It says, “All things work together and are fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God.” There is a plan for your life. What you experience today is part of that plan. It may be a time of sorrow, but those times don’t last forever. Whatever you are facing, it fits into God’s plan for you. It will change soon enough. You can be upset about it or happy. You can try to fight the wave or ride it. Ultimately, it’s your choice.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 