There is a season...for everything

In the 1960s The Byrds had a song that was extremely popular and I am sure everyone has heard at some point.  It was called "Turn, Turn, Turn" and was based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which begins in verse 1 with:

Ecc 3:1  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-- 

This sounds good and it does make a good song and The Byrds did it well.  I am not sure I ever truly understood what these scriptures actually meant.  Oh...I know what they mean...but what do they really mean?  How do these words actually penetrate into our hearts?  We Christians have our cutesy little sayings we use with the intention of providing comfort and encouragement.  We say things like "just have patience."  We often even say "well, there is a time and place for everything."  "Just have faith."  But does that make us feel any better when we want something?  Another favorite saying among Christians is "God always answers, but sometimes the answer is No."  This is a particular favorite to use when God doesn't answer our prayers in what we would consider an appropriate time frame.  

God doesn't work within our finite mind's concept of time.  He truly has a plan, a purpose and a time for everything He has prepared for us in His will for our lives.    We can't just give lip service to believing there is a plan and a purpose and a time for everything.  We must believe that God has our best intentions at heart and the time in our lives is not right for whatever it is we have asked for.  

The last year has brought about a couple of significant changes in my family's life.  The first significant change is my husband started a new job, which turned out to be a perfect example of God's timing.  When he turned in his 2 week's notice with the old employer, he found out he was going to be laid off if he hadn't found the new job.  That, folks, is a perfect example of God's timing.  My husband had been looking for another job off and on for a couple of years, then after a relatively easy process he was offered a position making a better salary with better benefits than the old position.  God knew what we needed as a family and knew what my husband needed to move forward in his career and He provided what we needed at exactly the right moment in our lives.  

So often we can get ahead ourselves and forget to wait on the Lord.  We forget to wait for the direction of the Lord. We think we know best and can often step out on our own pulling ourselves outside of the plan and will for our lives the Lord has preset for us.  We are to wait for the hand of the Lord to move in our circumstances.  We are to wait for the voice of the Lord to speak.  We are to wait for our Peace and our Comfort.  God will honor our commitment to following Him regardless of what our natural minds and wills want to do.  We just need to wait on Him and His plan....

Isa 40:31  Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.