A Time for Everything

The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (3:1) The ending of one year and the beginning of the next is only the turn of the page on a calendar (or the discarding of an old calendar for a new one), but it is a time when we contemplate what has been and what is to come.

Some seem to feel that some years are better overall than others. I think that each year has its blessings and struggles. I have also come to appreciate that each year will have its share of celebration and pain. Celebration of new life, new accomplishments, and good times. Pain of loss, struggle, and indecision. Celebration and pain are inexorably connected. This past year we rejoiced over the birth of a grandson, but we struggled with his mother’s health concerns resulting from that pregnancy. We enjoyed friends, but we went to the funerals of ones who will be missed. We accepted new challenges but met some closed doors along the way.

The one constant in all of this was the presence of God with us. Wisdom literature (like Ecclesiastes and Job) sometimes leaves us with more questions about God that it answers. God does not promise answers, however; God does promise to walk with us on the journey.

So the journey continues and our Companion for the journey walks with us into the New Year. To God be the glory!

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