Archive for seasons
Dealing with Temptation
Posted by: | CommentsThe Scripture tells us that "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Then it says that Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights.
We know as we look back to this occasion that Jesus was about to begin his earthly ministry. Can we draw the conclusion that we might also face seasons of temptation before we are released into new levels of ministry?
The final temptation was a temptation for Jesus to receive power and glory if he would fall down and worship the devil. It came right on the heels of two other powerful temptations. Yes, temptations. Hebrews records for us that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet he never succumbed to the temptations. He never sinned.
So imagine Jesus after forty days and forty nights of fasting. Tired. Lonely. Hungry. And here comes a third temptation.
Power and glory belong to Jesus. They are rightfully his. Yet Satan tried to get Jesus to receive what was rightfully his by short cutting God’s plan. "Just do it the easy way. You can have the glory and power now. Just worship me."
This wasn’t a new song and dance for Satan. He was kicked out of heaven for the same issue.
Jesus answered the temptation by saying "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."
A Time to Embrace
Posted by: | CommentsTo everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
…A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
Ecclesiastes 3
Ever tried to hug someone and felt their refusal to accept your embrace? Perhaps they stiffened up or went limp or distanced themselves and you knew that for whatever reason, they were not okay with your embrace.
It’s not always easy to embrace. Embracing involves risk and implies willing acceptance, whether another person, an idea, a view, yourself, your circumstances, or maybe your history. Usually our refusal to embrace has more to do with our own selves and our own heart than with whatever or whomever we refuse to embrace.
As of late, I’ve been thinking about how at times it has not been easy for me to embrace myself. I’ve been finding that my ability to love others and embrace them is dependent upon my ability to embrace myself.
Sometimes when we who are followers of Christ begin to understand that the Word says we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus, we forget that Jesus also said we are to love ourselves as we love others. And to be able to accept both of those truths at the same time seems impossible. So we try to choose one or the other of the truths and find ourselves off balance.
A Time to Throw Away
Posted by: | CommentsA time to keep,
And a time to throw away; Ecclesiastes 3:6
Perhaps there is no time when I more identify with the writer of Ecclesiastes than when I clean out my refrigerator. ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” “What profit has a man (or woman) from all (their) labor in which they toil under the sun?”
I must confess I find it difficult to find fulfillment in menial household tasks such as cleaning out the frig. My soul cries out, “Surely life is more than this!” Yet at my house, cleaning out the frig falls onto the task list with my name on it.
So last week I accidentally found myself cleaning out the refrigerator. You know those moments. I pulled out something and threw it away. Then I took out some leftovers and gave them to Charlie, our beloved mutt. And suddenly, one thing led to another and I was doing it. Relentlessly tossing out everything that cluttered my frig.
I got so caught up in the experience that I began checking the expiration dates on my bottled dressings, peppers, pickles, you name it, I was on a mission to have the perfectly organized refrigerator and to get rid of everything old.
First of all, I must admit that I was haunted by the words I recently read in a magazine that reminded me that the most expensive part of our food budget was the foods that we threw away. Ouch. I really intended to eat that bit of leftovers. I meant to cook stuffed peppers but now they were, well, unstuffable.
There is a Purpose
Posted by: | CommentsEccl 3:1
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
Can any statement be more disturbing? This suggestion that there is purpose in all the seasons of our lives?
Yes, we can believe that there is a purpose in birth, in love, in laughter, but how can there be purpose in death? In loss? In grief? In sadness?
But yet the basic fabric of our lives has to be built on the reality of purpose. The writer of Ecclesiastes goes on to say in Eccl 3: 11 that He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
At times, I find myself wanting to have a word with God on this matter! “No, God, surely this season is not beautiful and you cannot be working in this. I can’t see it.” I feel with the writer of Ecclesiastes that I can’t figure out this work that God is doing.
As believers, we grope and wrestle for meaning in the midst of our struggles because of the very eternity that God has put in our hearts. Encounters with God, whether we would categorize them as springtime, summer, fall, or winter, have eternal importance and all leave the taste of purpose in our mouths.
