Not Alone

Good Morning,

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
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,
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.

2010.

It looks a little weird, doesn't it? But, after all, it's only a number and by itself has little or no significance. However, it is a new year and we all, well at least most of us, look on a new year with various opinions, ideas, desires, anticipations, and the like. One thing, though, that has remained the same for me for many, many years is the Lord guiding me back to these verses in Ecclesiastes. Both as a reflection and a realization on what has transpired and what will be coming during this next year.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." The are, truly, brilliant words with profound meaning. Yes, truly, there is a time for everything. None of us knows, with certainty, almost anything about what we will go through and experience in the coming days, weeks, and months of 2010. We might think we know, but, as has happened every year of my life, nothing is certain. During each year we live through many various experiences, events, and encounters which will shape our lives in some way. We don't know what they will be. We don't know how we will respond or react to them. Only God knows what will happen in the future and only He knows exactly when those things will occur. The best we can do is to prepare ourselves to meet what God presents to us in the most positive way we can.

So, how do we face an uncertain future? First and foremost, we face it hand in hand with Jesus Christ; with God by our side and filled with the Holy Spirit. That is the most important thing that we need to do in these times which can hold anything under the sun. We need to go forward with God. The second thing that we need to do is to live each day with good partners in our lives. That can mean a loving spouse and it could also mean true, caring friends. But, I think that it mostly means living the days God gives us in the company of our Christian brothers and sisters, members of God's Holy Church, in our local congregations. We really can't do this living life thing efficiently by being alone.

As I read these verse of Scripture yet again on another New Year's Day, I could see the many things that can...and will in some way...come for all of us. Indeed there is a time for everything on this earth that God created. Everything.

No matter what we face or go through...births and deaths; illness and well being; tearing down and building; weeping and laughing; mourning and dancing; gathering and scattering; and all the rest that we read in these verses...no matter what, we must not do it alone.

Remember, throughout the coming days of 2010, we first and most importantly walk with and commune with God, then with close partners and friends, and, finally, with our local community of Christian brothers and sisters.

Yes, a time for everything...but not alone.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David