This post is part of a series on the seasons of life.  If you missed part 1 you can read it here…

In the middle of the Bible we have this great section of literature called the wisdom writings. It’s made up of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. I love this section of scripture because it deals with life. Real life. In the Bible we have historical accounts of God’s people and Christ’s walk on earth. We have prophesy. But when I’m feeling low I usually go to the wisdom literature. The prayers of the psalms. The struggle of Job. The wisdom of Solomon. These are where we see real emotion. Real struggle. The kind that we think and feel in our lives today and we see God minister to the emotional need of those He loves.

And let’s face it…..Some of our biggest needs in life are emotional. When we are walking through a tough season we need strength. Do you ever wake up in the morning and before you even open your eyes, you wonder how you’re going to make it through the day? How will you have what it takes? You need strength of mind and soul to live. To face your day. To deal with the people and circumstances in your life. And that’s why I love these books of the Bible. When David pours out his heart to God, in the Psalms, I can so relate. And I know you can too. So if you’re struggling, I highly recommend you spend some time in these wisdom books.

After Job and the Psalms, comes the writings of David’s son, King Solomon. According the scriptures he was the wisest man on the planet. He was also the richest King of Israel and he decided to study life. He used his resources and his wisdom to experience all that he could and to study all that he could. And being the wisest and the richest, he is an expert authority on life and this is what he wrote in Ecclesiastes 3…..how might this apply to your current season?

A Time for Everything

1For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

2A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

3A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

5A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

6A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

8A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace…

11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

There’s a time for everything. There was a time in my life when I thought I would live overseas as a missionary. I thought that was the path the Lord had for me before I met my husband. I went to Bible school to train for it. I got my bachelors degree in English for that purpose and traveled overseas several times. But I met my husband and God made it very clear it was His will for me to marry him. Since then I have been busy with other things besides traveling the world. Reference the decade between my 30^th and 40^th birthday mentioned in part 1 of this series.

I’ve prayed for almost 20 years for my husband to have the opportunity and desire to travel overseas on a mission trip. Last spring, God put it in his heart to go on an evangelical mission trip to Israel. God put a fire in Michael and I realized that this was the answer to all those prayers over the years.

Naturally, given my history, my hearts desire, my love for my husband, my joy at answered prayers, my long-time dream to go to Israel, I wanted to go with him on this trip. Of course I did.

Did I go? No.

Why?

I have 5 kids. My youngest was 4. It was 3 weeks in the summer when the kids were out of school. My oldest daughter is profoundly Autistic, non-verbal, and help watching her is limited. So I stayed home.

It’s the wrong season for me to be traveling the world. I have lived that season. Maybe I’ll live it again one day. But it’s not today.

And that is the real problem that most of us face when we look at our circumstances. When we find ourselves unhappy in life. We are often trying to live in the wrong season.

Tomorrow we will unpack this thought about trying to live in the wrong season and find help for the disappointments that sometimes come when that reality sets in.

 

Photo credit: Stanley Zimny (Thank You for 43 Million views) on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC