What time is it?

Eric, who has served our local congregation as our Youth pastor since August, 2010 announced his resignation on Sunday. He came to us just out of college with the fresh enthusiasm that is the strength of the young! He saw a need in our town and led the way to founding a youth outreach called “The Vault.”  Now he’s moving to a new position. It’s time to grow on.  None of us is thrilled with the loss of a friend. But, it appears to me that we recognize that the Lord has another chapter to write in all of our lives. His departure leaves the challenges of change for us. Where do we go from here?  What kind of influences will a new person  bring to our church? 

Solomon makes us think when he writes that "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NLT)  He goes on to talk about living and dying, planting and plowing, mourning and dancing, scattering and gathering, war and peace.  It’s easy to read that passage and say, “Yes, that’s right,” and give it little thought. Hit the pause button for a moment. Who really wants to think that there is a time to die?  Have you prepared your will?  Are your relationships in good shape so that if you made your exit from this world today there would be nothing left unsaid?  We grow wise when we remember, ‘there is a time to die.’  Who values mourning?  We try hard to keep ourselves happy, sometimes to the point of ignoring the plight of our friends or family, don’t we?  We are tender when we accept that ‘there is a time to mourn.’   Who likes to weep? I know that there are things we discover only when we are so broken that our tears become a kind of wordless prayer language.

I love Springtime, when the sun warms the earth and all things grow again. It’s a time of renewal. I love the Summer with its bright days and invitations to play. I love the Fall when the harvest arrives, when the nights cool, and life settles toward its inevitable Winter. And, I have come to love Winter; icy, cold, deathly. It is a time to wait for Resurrection! 

The wise person embraces life fully;  using the changes, the seasons, as opportunities to discover more of the fullness of God, to understand himself better, to enrich the world of which he is a part.  I am not a fatalist. I do not believe, for a moment, that old saw that says, ‘everything happens for a reason.’  Much of what we experience happens to us because of our choices, some good, some bad, some wise, some foolish. But, as a Christian I know I can present every situation to the Lord and to trust that He will work in it for my good.  In faith to trust God with today we find a depth to life that is beyond the grasp of those who desperately struggle to control it all.

What time is it? “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:14-20, NIV)

__________

My Life Is In Your Hands

Life can be so good,

Life can be so hard,

Never knowing what each day,

Will bring to where You are.

Sometimes I forget

And sometimes I can't see

That whatever comes my way

You'll be with me.

Nothing is for sure.

Nothing is for keeps.

All I know is that Your love

Will live eternally.

So I will find my rest,

And I will find my peace,

Knowing that You'll meet

My ev'ry need.

My life is in Your hands,

My heart is in Your keeping.

I'm never without hope

Not when my future is with You.

My life is in Your hands,

And though I may not see clearly,

I will lift my voice and sing,

'Cause Your love

Does amazing things.

Lord I know my life

Is in Your hands!

Bill Montvilo | Kathy Troccoli

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