“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

God put into place natural processes to sustain the created order. A slimy caterpillar metamorphoses into a colorful butterfly. A dead seed buried in the soil sprouts and grows into a tree. A painful wound, although it usually leaves a scar, heals over time. A baby stays at its mother’s womb for nine months before it pushes itself out.

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes mentions the different seasons of life. There is a time, he said, to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and time to laugh … a time for war and time for peace. All these seasons describe life as dynamic, fluid, and able to grow and develop.

God’s design for the world is good. It is for a good purpose that a seed dies. Like the seed, some of us need to be hurt deeply in order to realize how deep and wide and long God’s love is. Some need to experience living at the edge in order to learn that God is a Helper in times of need. Some need to experience being at the throes of death in order to conquer fear and realize that God is the Life. Some need to go in order to create room for growth for others. Some need to be martyred for the salvation of others.

In all our seasons we can actually sit back and relax. For behind each detail of our lives is a just and loving God. He is all-good. He does not mean evil. Jesus’ suffering on the cross tells us there is nothing in the present nor in the future that can separate us from the love of God. Amidst our joys and pains, hope and fears, laughter and tears, we can say with the Teacher that indeed, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.’

photo source http://www.sxc.hu