ODJ: the right time?
February 1, 2010
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven (v.1).
READ: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
I’ve known believers in Jesus who struggled with guilt for saying “no” to taking on a new responsibility in a church or a parachurch organization. Many of them felt that by not agreeing to do more, they were failing to “walk by faith.” Yet they are all people who possess good reasons for carefully selecting their priorities. Some of them are moving from being single to married life, or from being a student to working.
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, wisdom recognizes that everything has its own season—in human activities as in the realm of nature. There is “a time to search [for work, marriage, new friends] and a time to quit searching” (v.6). There comes a time in life when we should curtail certain commitments and funnel our energy into something else—putting aside what we did in the past. For instance, a mother shouldn’t feel guilty about spending her time nurturing her child and not having as much time to serve in church as she once did. It’s necessary that we experience these seasons of change.
Even though every activity has an appropriate occasion, only God can truly know what that occasion is (vv.9-11). It’s our responsibility to make the best and wisest decisions, and “whether [we] eat or drink, or whatever [we] do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
J. I. Packer wrote, “We must forsake the fallacy that faith is only demonstrated by what we are doing for God. Certainly, an active and growing faith will produce works in the life of a believer, but in reality, biblical faith demonstrates what God, in His power and grace, is doing for, in, and through the one who believes God.”
We walk by faith when we trust God to work in and through our lives—in all we do. —Poh Fang Chia
Are you holding on to some unnecessary guilt—believing that you’re not doing enough in serving God? How has your faith set you free to serve Him?
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“For everything there is a time and a season…” realizing this helps us set our priorities right.
It is not a coincidence to open this blog for the first time, and read this passage…
(There is no coincidence, when we belive in God, right?)
It is a time to stop trying to find answer by my own and listen to God. And this passage meant a lot to what I have been through…!
God bless you!