There is a time
Today’s scripture selection: Ecclesiastes 3-4
Key verses: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
Lots of people talk a lot about time.
We talk about
- When we will get what we want
- When we will accomplish something important
- When we will be well
- When we will stop mourning
- When we will be promoted
- When we will find a job
- When something that doesn’t make sense will finally make sense
Well, you get the picture.
Time is on our minds – for all sorts of reasons.
Maybe that is why one of my favorite Bible passages is the one that speaks about this critically important issue.
There have been some very dark times in my life when I have found comfort in the section from Ecclesiastes that begins “There is a time for every activity under heaven….”
In those moments when I have found it hard to be hopeful; or wondered what the meaning of something was – I took comfort in the idea that, according to God’s wise economy, there is a time for everything.
It helped me to take a deep breath and be patient a little longer; trying to trust that God would open my heart and mind to the meaning of it all – in due time.
Prayer: Father, help me to be patient and trust, knowing that the times of my life are in your gracious, loving hands. AMEN.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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