For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

(Reprinted from article originally published in 2009)

For all intents and purposes, summer has passed, fall has arrived.  The lazy days of hanging out by the pool and Saturday afternoon barbecues are being replaced with football  practice, football games and football on TV.  The kids are back in school, some of you are learning the reality of “empty nests” as your children go off to college.  Recently I had a most strange experience.  I was sure there was a bit of a nip in the air.  I must have been imagining things, after all  it was 92 degrees!  But as I stopped to think about it, to let my senses take it in, there it was.  Something that couldn’t be explained but none the less very real.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about all that.  It’s been a good summer.  Lots of fun, time with family, vacation; I love summer.  At the same time though, I realized that there were other things to look forward to.  After all, Autumn is a wonderful time of year.  The beauty of God’s creation as the trees take on their color.  Finding comfort and warmth against the crisp morning air as I snuggle up in my worn out robe.  And, don’t forget getting back that hour of sleep that was lost back in the spring!

That’s how it is with life as we go from one season to another.  Everything around us tells us that the current season is still with us, but from somewhere, in ways we can’t explain, we get those little signs – that sense from within that the season is about to change.  Often, we don’t want to let go.  We tend to keep looking back at what we’ve had, finding a sense of comfort in the familiar.  Most of us have a struggle with change don’t we?  I think yes.   Just as we look ahead to the change of seasons in nature,  let us look ahead to the new seasons of life.   And if we have days when we doubt – which we will, we need only turn to God’s word for  assurance.   Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us  “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:”.  The promise continues in verses 11-14:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.   I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;  also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil–this is God’s gift to man.  I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.”

There are wonderful summertime memories behind us,  yet if  like God’s creation we will bend our will to His, there lies ahead a season of beauty, joy, comfort and of promise.
~Sandra

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (John 18:38a)

In the 1950s and 1960s there was a popular game show called “To Tell The Truth”.  The show featured a team of challengers which included a central character who had an unusual job or had experienced some unusual event.  The central character was accompanied by two imposters.  Continue reading →

(A psalm by David.) You, LORD, are my shepherd. I will never be in need.  (Psalms 23:1 CEV)

Sometimes less is more, that’s the case for this week’s post. In the familiar six verses of the Twenty-Third Psalms, David left us with a legacy of promise upon promise, hope upon hope.  I invite you to meditate with me on David’s beautiful offering of praise: Continue reading →

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” John 5:6

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. (John 5:2-9)

 

Does the question Jesus asked the man at Bethesda surprise you? Shouldn’t the answer be obvious?  This man has suffered for nearly 40 years, surely he wanted to be healed!

The man was likely as surprised by Jesus’ question as we were. Rather than answer the question, he began to make excuses and we can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice – “Of course I want to be healed, if I didn’t I wouldn’t keep coming back here year after year.  You don’t seem to understand my circumstances.  Look at me.  I’m crippled, it’s a long way down to the pool, and there are all these other people who can move a lot faster than I can.”

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (John 5:7)

Almost as if he didn’t hear the man, Jesus pressed on.

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” (John 5:8)

Like the crippled man, we get it into our minds that God’s power is limited by our circumstances. That’s wrong thinking. Even when our faith fails, God does not.  Look closely at the sequence in the next verse.

And at once the man was healed, and (then) he took up his bed and walked. (John 5:9)

Throughout His ministry, Jesus asked many “Do You” questions.  The questions He asked in ages past are relevant for us today.  They are questions that each of us must answer for ourselves.

When we need faith

“But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

“Why do you question these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:8)

When we need help

“What do you want me to do for you?” (Matthew 20:32)

“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28)

When we need answers

“Do you not understand?” (Mark 4:13)

“Whom do you seek?” (John 18:4)

Every day

“ do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15)

Thinking back on all the “do you” questions Jesus has asked me through the years, I realize how often I gave excuses instead of answers.  Like the man in these passages, there have been many times that I was crippled by past experiences and overcome by present circumstances; there still are.  I’m so glad that God is not a God of circumstances, aren’t you?

~Sandra

I wait for you more eagerly than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn. Yes, I wait more eagerly than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn.  Psalms 130:6  

I don’t know what its like to be a soldier on guard duty but I do know what it’s like to be eager for the dawn; you probably do too. You know, the hours between midnight and 5:00 AM when you can’t sleep?  You watch the clock.  The seconds seem to tic by one by one as you lie there waiting for the alarm to ring so you can get out of that bed.

I think one of the hardest things to do as a Christian is to wait on God.  Let’s face it, most of us live our lives in fast forward. When we call out to God we want Him to answer us – NOW.  Like the soldier on watch or our sleepless nights, we are eager for the dawn to come.

Have you ever had to wait on God ?

Have you ever…

• Gone through a crisis with a friend?
• Sat by the bed of a sick child?
• Had more bills than money?
• Prayed for a loved one to come to Christ?

I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. (Psalms 69:3)

Have you felt like the dawn was never going to come? The darkness lingered so long that your mind and body wanted to give up and you didn’t know how you could make one more day? And still, God said “wait”.

But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. (Job 30:26)

These are the times when the only thing left to do is cry out to God – “I surrender this to You”.  “Please, LORD, take this from me”.  “LORD, I can’t do this”.

“  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

Then suddenly, miraculously, even unexpectedly, the dawn breaks. The new day comes. The light shines through the darkness.

Even if…

• Your friend is still in crisis
• Your child is still sick
• There is still not enough money
• Your loved one is still lost

…you can have hope because you’ve put your trust in the One who is able.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

Waiting is hard. I won’t pretend it’s easy to wait on God, we all know that it’s not.  Sometimes the wait seems to go on so long that we begin to wonder if God has forgotten us.  He hasn’t.  God’s love, grace and mercy never fail.

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.  (Isaiah 30:18)

Testing is hard. When God says wait, when your faith is being tested, remember…

• God is ever-present (Deuteronomy 31:6)
• God is for you (Romans 8:31)
• God is love (1 John 4:16)
• God never fails (Lamentations 3:22)
• In Him is yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Trusting is hard.  When we’re down in a valley, and all we can see are mountains that we can’t climb, all we want is out. God sees beyond the mountain. He sees eternity – past, present, and future.  God knows what he’s doing.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)

~Sandra

Is there a time when you’ve had to wait on God?

I had such a good time bringing the Ephesians bible study to the blog.   Continue reading →

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  (John 1:16)

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For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:20

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