As we go through each day, week and at the start of a new year (2025 already, didn’t 2024 just start??) the words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 come to mind. “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.” New Living Translation
We don’t know what each day, month or year will hold. We cannot see into the future; and while we can make predictions, inferences and guesses, that is all they are. Guesses. Wishes. Hopes perhaps. I’ve heard it said that we can often only understand life when looking back, but that life is lived forward. And I believe that is where faith comes in.
Jesus reminds us in John 14 that we will have difficulties and trials in life at times, but He offers hope in verse 27 “I am leaving you with a gift -peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
Solomon uses opposites in life (birth-death, planting-harvesting, etc.) to remind us that life is constantly changing around us. Events happen and circumstances change, yet God promises to never abandon us. And Jesus does something similar by saying that we can have peace even when things are topsy-turvy or when life isn’t going according to our prayers or plans. We can have peace and contentment in our hearts, allowing us peace in the midst of the storms of life.
Have faith and confidence in God each day.
Pastor Jason