A new employee had been caught coming in late for work three times and the fourth time the manager decided to discipline him. He said, “Look here! Don’t you know what time we start to work around here? He replied, “No, sir. They’re always working when I get here.” Knowing the time and keeping the time are different things for different people. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, we read, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."
These words of wisdom teach about the conundrum of what we call 'Time'. Life is full of events with a combination of contrasts. The author, believed to be Solomon, illustrates this truth by comparing the opposites —fourteen pairs of contrasting activities as examples of how life is comprised of contrasting events and seasons. A straightforward reading of the passage reveals that there are good and bad events listed. He is not justifying one over the other, rather states that God's plan for life involves a variety of experiences and activities. Weeping may be part of life, but life is not all weeping; laughter has its place. Construction is good in its time, but sometimes deconstruction is unavoidable. Wars may not be good, but become a reality at times
As we step into a new year, we are leaving behind a year that has been like no other in our life time. From the catastrophic pandemic to the chaos of U.S. presidential election along with various natural disasters tested our foundation as individuals and families. The first impeachment of a U.S president since 1998, the worst pandemic since 1918 and the toughest economic conditions since the great depression of the 1930s have tested our foundations. The stock market sunk so much down in March that trading was halted to avoid a crash. Globally we see social and political unrests grow on scale that hasn't been seen in our life time. Over the past year, we have been grieved to watch the health of beloved family members and friends deteriorate and some of us had to say farewell to a few. But we also have also rejoiced together at the gift of new life and enjoyed watching those little ones adding joy and liveliness to our daily lives.
A question was asked to a group of people, "if you only had one hour to live, who would you like to spend that time with?" One person said, "my pastor." Then he went into say that "he can make an hour feel like a lifetime.” Bad times seem to last longer than good times. Time does not go fast when you are in a situation that you do not want to be in.
Everyone goes through good times and bad times; together they make up the season of life. There is a time and there is a season. Time is a point of time in the span of time, where as season is the space between two points of time. It's not the times of our lives that shape us, but the seasons shape our lives. We cannot live only just for the good times while bad times are real. It takes both to make a life. You may not like the time, but you can enjoy the season. Life is a part of time that we fill with events. The events come in pairs of combination as contrasts. You may not like some events and you will love others. But it is not for you to pick or choose. If we were to pick and choose, we would love to be youthful and energetic and nobody would want to get old and weak.
Mark Twain said, “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.” But it does not and will not work like that because we do not have control of time. Time was not created by any man. It was there when we came here. The way time as we describe and understand has not been around that long. Back in 1792 the French tried a ten-day week with ten hours in a day, 100 minutes in an hour and 100 seconds in a minute. The Russians tried a five-day week in 1929 and even named the days of the week after colors. In the United States it was a railroad engineer's suggestions that time was finally standardized on November 18, 1883. Before that, every community decided what time it was on their own. All railroads out of New York ran on New York time, and railroads west from Chicago mostly used Chicago time, but between Chicago and Pittsburgh/Buffalo the norm was Columbus time. Standard time was not enacted into US law until the 1918 Standard Time Act established standard time in time zones; and then the law also instituted daylight saving time (DST). In 1884 the Greenwich Meridian was recommended as the Prime Meridian of the World and called GMT. Later it was replaced by the term UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Although the standardization of time is not that old, God has been working with time since the beginning of creation. In fact, He's the originator of time. The first mention of time is in Genesis 1:5: "So the evening and the morning were the first day." The writer of Ecclesiastes notes a promising point at the end that there is beauty in time. "God has made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccl 3:11). The proper activity at the right time, brings about God’s purposes, and is a beautiful part of God’s overall plan. The word "beautiful" in this context has also been translated by some as "fitting". There is a fitting point in time that God has determined something should happen. The most beautiful thing God has done is that He made you and me fitting in His great plan. Now we are here at this place, on this day of this year, stepping into another year. God excels in making all things new and He makes all things beautiful.
There are seasons we can move through as individuals. In any given gathering, you’ll likely find people who are celebrating new life, and people who are concerned about the end of life, people who are struggling, and people who are content. There are seasons we move through as families. We are born as infants, then grow up as adults going through various stages. Eventually we become parents, grand parents, uncles, cousins and various other relationships develop as we move through our travel in time. When a baby is born, a father is born, a mother is born, grand parents, uncles and so many other new relationships are created in terms of that baby. That is what family means; a reflection of moving through the seasons of life. Older generations eventually will pass away and new generations take the mantles. Over the past year, many have been grieved to watch the health of beloved ones deteriorate and many had to say farewell to a number of them.
There are seasons we move through as a congregations. Churches grow and pass through phases of growth and decline. Some churches are born while some are getting closed. It happens in all organizational establishments in this world. Nothing seems to stay here forever. But the good news is that the gift of new life gives us new hope and a fresh energy. Endings and new beginnings, times for grieving and times for celebrating are contrasting events that balance each other.
First, there are contrasting seasons of good and bad in our lives. Nobody is exempt. The fourteen examples in pairs cover every area of life. We may not want or like everything on this list. We all like one side of each pair more than we like the other. We love births; but not deaths. We like healing; killing not so much. We love peace, but we don't like wars. This list covers pretty much everything that happens in life, from birth to death and from war to peace.
Second, We don’t get to say what we get on this list or when we get those. It is like playing the cards in a game. The games vary, but all will get cards. Of course, some cards are better than others. There’s that moment when you pick up the cards and turn them over that you realize that you’ve been handed a deck that you didn’t choose. Some of those cards are not ones that you would have chosen. But they’re your cards. They’re part of your game from that point on. We would all like to choose some of these things and not others, but very quickly realize that it is not our choice. .
One lesson that we all learned from 2020 is that we could never say, ‘it cannot get any worse or we have seen it all.” But the reality is that these experiences have made us stronger, more resilient and ready to meet any challenge ahead of us. No matter how exhilarating, confusing, or infuriating life may be from one day to the next, remember that the sun will rise and it will set, the wind will blow, those streams will keep running to the sea, and—more importantly— people who trust in God will stand firm through it all. May the New Year bring good health, happiness and blessings to all!! "Eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deuteronomy 33:27).
Paul tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). Rejoicing is easier than mourning, but both are part of the human experience in this fallen world. As church people, we are to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. To build one another up. Not just to play for the same team, but to be one another’s cheerleaders. For better or for worse. Whether we find ourselves in a season of dancing and embracing or a season of loss and disappointment.
So no matter which season you find yourself in at the moment, you are part of a church family that cares about you. And no matter how exhilarating, confusing, or infuriating life may be from one day to the next, remember that the sun will rise and it will set, the wind will blow, those streams will keep running to the sea, the flowers will bloom and—more importantly—God’s people will stand firm through it all.
When our children were younger, we used to go to climb Stone Mountain. Of course, we were younger too. On certain days, I remember seeing that height, in the distance that appeared to be so high and feel too tired to climb. The mirage of the looming challenge stirred apprehension and dread in my mind, and I entertained thoughts of quitting and turning around to go home. But the kids were full of energy and they would not want to go back. So I made the decision to forge ahead and confront the situation. Each time, to my surprise and delight, the impossibility of the climb evaporated as I started to hike up the hill. The steepness of the hill faded away, and I was emboldened with the confidence to conquer the challenge. The walk required effort; but with one step after another I accomplished my goal, and a sense of achievement and confidence blossomed in me to look forward to the next one. How many times in our lives has each of us encountered a 'steep hill'? With a strong faith in God and a personal resolve to see a task or difficulty through, we all can overcome obstacles that at first may cause us to recoil. But each victory we achieve strengthens us. As we strengthen our faith so as to move mountains, we can imbue others around us with the same strength.
Enjoy the season, even if you don't like the time. Our current circumstances of living in a world gripped by a pandemic leave us surrounded by hearts in pain. So when with heavy hearts we start afresh in this New Year, God’s call to His people is simple: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
With a strong faith in God and a personal resolve to see a task or difficulty through, we all can overcome obstacles that at first may cause us to recoil. But each victory we achieve strengthens us. As we strengthen our faith so as to move mountains, we can imbue others around us with the same strength.
