Seasons

Ecc. 3:1-8 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: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 laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; 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.

We have all heard this verse, applied in many different ways. We certainly all have different seasons in our lives and Ecclesiastes makes clear that God is in control of those seasons, and IN those seasons with us. I remember the season when my children were little. Then young adults, now my season is grandmother, but we can be in 2 or 3 seasons at once. For over 20 yrs. I have also been a realtor. It’s been a nice career that has been good to me. At first, I really struggled with how I could glorify God in this job. As time went on, I found ways. FIRST was being as forthright and ethical as I possibly could be, being careful not to cross lines, and I can tell you that it cost me, but only monetarily. I remember coming home during a slower income period and telling Roger that I could make more money if I acted as the world acts. But we both knew that was not really going to pay off in the long run.

Have you struggled with ethics in this messed up world? I think we all do. The world constantly tells us to compromise, everyone does it. Tolerate sin, it’s the new way to a faster paycheck. And a new way to “get along”.

In Psalm 51, David goes to God because he did the unthinkable. He, with premeditation killed Bathsheba’s husband, just so that he could be with her and cover his sin. But after he killed him, he was miserable, nothing in his life was going right. He had always sought God but now…. Now he had God’s wrath. The entire Psalm is repentance. God did forgive him. That’s all God wanted was a contrite heart.  A turning back to Him rather than going our own sinful way.

To me the amazing thing about David wasn’t that he killed Goliath, that he slew his 10 thousands, or even that he had Bathsheba’s husband killed, it was how quickly God forgave him. Now don’t get me wrong, when we sin there are consequences. David had them too, but God’s forgiveness is incredible. Every now and then I hear someone say that they are too “bad” to ask forgiveness or too “bad” to get into heaven. I think David is a perfect example of why that isn’t true. We all need to know that no matter how far we can be away from God, He is always ready to leave the 99 for us. That His forgiveness is always there for us. Just for the asking.

Lord, today we come to you with our many sins, imperfections and problems. We lay them at your feet and ask that you would forgive our sins, as we sin daily. Help us to be mindful of those sins and work harder to do better every day. Amen

Shirlene Peterson