Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us life does not remain the same. Generation to generation everything cycles through good times and bad. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
In our very limited understanding, life can seem random. But the author of Ecclesiastes is clear: God is sovereign over history. Further, our lack of control in the trying and calamitous times is meant to tenderize our hearts toward God, to remind us of our accountability to and our need of Him, with our prime need being His salvation in his Son, Jesus Christ.
So, even though life feels like we are chasing after the wind, it is God who ordains the seemingly unpredictable seasons of life – a time to be born and to a time to die, to plant and pluck up, to kill and heal, to breakdown and buildup, to weep and laugh, to mourn and dance, to cast away and gather together, of war and peace, and so on and so forth – all of which are beyond our control.
Let me share a season of wounding and of healing from my life, in which a big aspect of healing was not what I expected.
I had grown up on a northern B.C. farm. While it was a great upbringing it was not in my blood to do that for the rest of my life. So I moved on at 17. I had my fill of animals – horses, beef cattle, milk cows, chickens, hogs, turkeys, dogs, cats, you name it we had it – and I was ready for a permanent, animal free change in city life.
In time I married, we had five amazing children, and life was an adventure.
Then came a ten year stretch where my vocation became exceedingly stressful and my wife found herself trapped in a legal battle. In the remaining few years of that overwhelming season my wife did a 180 and, out of the blue, asked the unthinkable: "Can we get a dog?" My wife and I had always said no to our kids. But just days prior to her asking the Spirit impressed on me it was time.
So when my wife brought it up, our kids looking at me with anticipation, what could I say but, "Yes." God provided the right dog for our family, and Max brought much needed unconditional love into our home, cushioning the remaining hard years of that rough season. Just recently two cats were added, and talk of a hamster continues to resurface. I can only worry about what is next! Yet, it is all part of the good season we are presently enjoying.
You might feel tempted to equate God to a six year old who grabbed a yo-yo from the goody box at the dentist office and is haphazardly slinging it every which way, but nothing could be further from the truth. God is great, He remains in full control, He is good and knows what He is doing, and you can trust Him through the lows and into the highs of life (Proverbs 3:5-6, 11-12, Hebrews 13:8).
Robin Martens is the pastor of Kinnaird Park Community Church.
