“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:
a time
to be born a time to die
a time
to plant a
time to pluck what is planted
a time
to kill a
time to heal
a time
to break down a time to build up
a time
to cast away stones a time to
gather stones
a time
to embrace a time to
refrain from embracing
a time
to gain a
time to lose
a time
to keep a
time to throw away
a time
to tear a time to sew
a time
to keep silence a time to speak
a time
to love a
time to hate
a time
of war a
time of peace…
He has made everything beautiful in its time…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11a)
Everything
beautiful? How can that be? I can see how birth, planting, healing, building up, gathering, embracing, gaining, keeping, sewing, silence, love, and
peace can be beautiful! But where is the
beauty in dying, killing, breaking, casting away, losing, throwing away,
tearing, hating, and war? Yet, God says
He has made everything beautiful…in its time!
Could it mean that with God—through
God, He can take those things that appear as tragedy to us and bring some
beauty out of the ashes?
“And we know that ALL things work
together for GOOD to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His PURPOSE.” (Romans 8:28)
Purpose? Could God possibly have some purpose in those
negatives in our lives? Just as strain,
stress, and stretching builds our physical man, so also strain, stress,
and stretching will build our spiritual man…our faith and our character.
Purpose? Virtues such as integrity, honor, morality,
loyalty, patience, respect, faithfulness, dependability, self-control,
diligence, commitment, tenderness, humility, purity, compassion, trust,
servanthood, obedience, generosity, forgiveness—these things are taught through
life’s lessons and learned, hopefully, through life’s tragedies.
Test it for yourself and see if this isn’t so?
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