God and His Time

 Hello!  I am sitting here at my desk listening to "The Blessing" which you can hear at this link  https://youtu.be/uZ55mDL7dA0.  And I encourage you if you haven't sat down and listened to it.  It takes time, I know, but it will minister to your soul.  Time.  Our time here on this Earth is precious.  It is an allotted time that only God knows the end.  So what are we doing with our time?

In Ecclesiastes it is the famous part of the Bible that talks about time.  In verse one of Ecclesiastes 3 it states that "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  There is a reason in the grand scheme of life by God's design that things happen.  Like Covid-19, for example, is a part of God's design whether He is in it or not, He allowed it to happen.  That is one big reason that we should not fear.  In the Bible it states in Psalm 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"  And I love the second part of this verse - "The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"  So, you see, if we believe in God and trust that He has a purpose, when these storms come along, we should draw strength from Him and know we don't have to be afraid.

Ecclesiastes goes on to state in the remaining verses - 2"A time to be born, and a time to die;  a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace; 9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? 10 I have seen travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised.  11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time; also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God made from the beginning to the end.  12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.  13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God.  14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever;  nothing can be out into it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it that men should fear before Him.  15 That which hath been is now;  and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past."

After reading this, we can see the theme in all of this, the common denominator is God is ultimately in control.  A verse that was in the Bible as a cross reference was Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."  I just think that in reading these verses, we can gain comfort that when all of life comes at us, and sometimes it is really hard and all at once or in waves, we can rest in knowing that God made from the beginning to the end!  In the Bible notes that are in my Bible are from Thomas Nelson, Inc., and I thought it interesting that they note that the words, "The world," is referring to "eternity."  They say that internally all men want eternity.  We are instructed to "eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God."  God wants us to enjoy our lives and work for Him.  God's work can be found in the later set of the verses -- God's work is eternal!  Remember to store up treasures in Heaven?  Do things that are eternally good!  God's work should bring us together.  It has the same goal -- living out Christ that they lost will be saved.  Men should fear God.  This is important!  We show Him reverence when we show Him fear.  And the last verse in this section is verse 15 talking about "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been;  and God requireth that which is past."  Basically, been there, done that, got this coffee cup.

I think that all in all, in this life you will have trouble.  There were sets of things mentioned above that we will experience in some way at some time.  What should give us solace is found in the John 16:33, in which Jesus instructs His disciples that they are going to be scattered after He is crucified.  He goes on to encourage them that "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world!"  (Ok, I have to say that the exclamation point is mine.  LOL -- I notice that I like to use them in writing.  It must mean that everything I say is very important or very exciting!)  In any case I hope you can grab hold of this today. 

As the song, "The Blessing" says, 

May His presence go before you
And behind you
And beside you
All around you
And within you
He is with you
He is with you

In the morning
In the evening
In your coming  
And your going
In your weeping
And rejoicing
He is for you
He is for you!

I hope that this has been an encouragement to you today!  I just love that He loves us!  That He is behind, beside, around, within, and for us!

I don't know where you are, dear friend, in your walk with Him.  If you are like me, you know that you are saved but may let the time or strife get your focus off of His work for you!  I hope you refocus back on Jesus today!  If you don't have a Savior in your heart, all you have to do is Admit you are a sinner; Confess your sins; Believe that Jesus died, rose, and saves; and Ask Jesus to come in and reign over your heart and life.

Keep giving the time to Him!

Thank you so much for taking time to read these thoughts. God is SO good!  I pray that you are in His will for your life!  And I put the link at the top but please take time to listen to this song, "The Blessing."  I know it is long but take time to listen and soak in what He is speaking to you! <3

  Take care!

Blessings, love, and [[hugs]],

Chandra :0) <3