The right thing at the right time

Today: Ecclesiastes 1-4

Confession: I may have been a district-level spelling bee champ (fact check: sixth grade winner representing private schools in Washington state), but Ecclesiastes is still a little hard for me. But in the spirit of the book, it doesn't matter anyway, right? :)

I'm joking a little, but the book of Ecclesiastes may seem depressing at moments. It's not exactly sugar-coated comfort to think of your life as not much more than a whiff of smoke, a vapor. But even smoke can smell like a wonderful candle--or burnt hair. A vapor can give you a whiff of perfume, chocolate chip cookies...or a garbage dump.

I do think that the book of Ecclesiastes is great at providing perspective. That annoying job you have at the moment? It probably won't matter in the next 20 years...and it definitely won't matter in the next 100 years. That MAJOR FIGHT you had with your boyfriend/girlfriend? You won't even remember it when you're on your deathbed. The fact that you're rich, poor, single, married, a parent, childless, fat or thin? Doesn't really matter at all in the span of eternity.

Speaking of perspective...this section in particular is great at illustrating the importance of timing (it may look like a Beatles song, but I assure you--they got it from here!):

There's an opportune time to do things,

a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,

A right time to plant and another to reap,

A right time to kill and another to heal,

A right time to destroy and another to construct,

A right time to cry and another to laugh,

A right time to lament and another to cheer,

A right time to make love and another to abstain,

A right time to embrace and another to part,

A right time to search and another to count your losses,

A right time to hold on and another to let go,

A right time to rip out and another to mend,

A right time to shut up and another to speak up,

A right time to love and another to hate,

A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

This passage is different from others in illustrating not just what is right, but the importance of when. In other words, it's entirely possible to do the right thing at the wrong time--we should all seek to do the right thing at the right time.

I bet you're thinking "Wow, that sounds nice and all...but how do I know when the right time is happening?" It's not always easy. I think often, we have to pray for God's guidance. We need His wisdom to discern what to do and when to do it. And even when we don't know exactly, we have to walk by faith and ask Him to direct our steps. It's like the phrase, "When God closes a door, He opens a window." I believe that's true...but you and I sometimes have to walk over to the doors and windows and give them a tug.

Tomorrow: Ecclesiastes 5-8

For such a time as this

Today: Esther 1-5

Can I just say that God has impeccable timing?

It's definitely a theme found in today's passage, but the fact that I'm reading this passage today and at this point in my life is crazy amazing. I really love the book of Esther and today's passage always serves as an incredible reminder to me of God's all-knowing power at work in our everyday lives. Let's review this section where Mordecai tries to connect with Esther after the proclamation that the Jews will be executed:

Mordecai sent her this message:

"Don't think that just because you live in the king's house

you're the one Jew

who will get out of this alive.

If you persist in staying silent

at a time like this,

help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews

from someplace else;

but you and your family will be wiped out.

Who knows?

Maybe you were made queen

for just such a time as this."

Esther sent back her answer to Mordecai:

"Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together.

Fast for me.

Don't eat or drink for three days, either day or night.

I and my maids will fast with you.

If you will do this, I'll go to the king,

even though it's forbidden.

If I die, I die."

Wow! I love Mordecai's tell-it-like-it-is boldness and Esther's courage. This passage reminds me that I may not always know why I end up some places, but God always has a purpose in mind. His purpose will be fulfilled one way or another, but (like Esther) I'd rather be part of it than miss out and live with regrets.

Tomorrow: Esther 6-10

What a difference time...and Numbers...can make

Today: Numbers 1-2

I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't exactly thrilled about starting the book of Numbers today. Don't get me wrong--I love God's Word. But it felt weird to be starting this book...of all days...on Christmas.

But as I started reading it, I thought about the significance of this book. Remember reading about Abraham and Sarah--the older couple who couldn't have kids for YEARS? Take a look at these verses from today's passage:

These are the People of Israel, counted according to their ancestral families.

The total number in the camps,

counted troop by troop,

comes to 603,550.

Following God's command to Moses,

the Levites were not counted in with the rest of Israel.
The People of Israel did everything the way God commanded Moses:

They camped under their respective flags;

they marched by tribe with their ancestral families.

Did you catch that? The descendants of the couple who had a very difficult time even conceiving a child totalled...over 603,550!?! Wow. I don't know about you, but to me, that's an inspiring, "look what God can do" moment. What may seem like a small start (Abraham and Sarah had one child together) could turn into an entire nation. When they had Isaac, Abraham and Sarah knew they had a miracle. But they didn't fully comprehend the magnitude of God's promise fulfilled.

As I think about Christmas today, I think about Jesus--a baby born in a manger. It was a miracle. But it probably seemed like a small, humble start (even to Mary and Joseph). But God's promise fulfilled was bigger than a baby in a manger--He saw millions of faces, He knew millions of names, millions of lives that would be changed forever. It started with the promise of a baby. But the magnitude of that promise fulfilled has been multiplied...with time and numbers.

Sometimes we see a fraction of what God does. The fractions are miracles. They're worth celebrating. However, I believe that maybe we should start believing for the increased magnitude that only God can do. We can have faith to celebrate the magnitude before we see it, to hope that it comes--that the seedlings of God's promises fulfilled today could grow things so significant that change many people's lives forever. With God, all things are possible, of course. But I think that many times we don't always see the full picture in a single generation--He uses time and numbers.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, I hope you remember that power of promises fulfilled. Merry Christmas!

The Bold, Beautiful, Blessed and Deceived

Today: Genesis 27-29

If there ever was a Biblical soap opera, I think today's passage might have been it. These chapters set out a pretty twisted plotline--a brother deceiving a brother (and his father, too!), a bait-and-switch at the altar, a wife who gives children to her husband but receives no love in return, and the beautiful girl whose guy waited 14 years to make her his bride (and did I mention that this guy was also the one who married her older sister by mistake?). It sounds a little like Jerry Springer, don't you think?

What's amazing is that God was in the midst of this messiness. He didn't cause it. But He loved these people with messy lives. He was with them. He blessed them. He saw them. He heard them.

At moments, all of us can find ourselves in the midst of messes--messes that impact us or the people around us. Don't be afraid to reach out to God in your dramatic, messy life. And don't be afraid to reach out with God's love to someone else whose life is a mess to rival a Jerry Springer episode. Love is strong enough to wade its way through messes--and to pull us out of them, too!

Tomorrow: Genesis 30-31