WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008
This little adventure started just a bit over a week ago. To some it may not seem exciting at all, but to me anytime that God is willing to show me some new truth that is exciting!
It began with a plant. One that had grown too big and needed to be trimmed down. My Dad and Step-mom gave me the stem with the leaves and a pot and even a table to sit the plant on. All I had to do was get the soil to plant it in, and put the stem with leaves in a vase. They told me that if I let the stem sit in the vase for a week that it should begin to grow roots and then I could transplant it. Well, a week had passed and I had yet to see the roots appear. I told my Dad about it and he told me that if the roots hadn’t grown yet, they most likely would not at all. So of course, I was ready to throw the stem away. But as I pulled the stem out of the vase, lo and behold, what did I see but two tiny reindeer…. No just kidding, there were roots! :o) When I least expected to find signs of new life, God proved me wrong!
It got me thinking about what Solomon said…. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). As I read further in Solomon’s words of wisdom, I came across Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Here Solomon relates how he feels about all the hard work that he has done in his lifetime. He says that all his work will accomplish nothing for him, and will only benefit those who come after him. It is “meaningless, a chasing after the wind”. In future verses, he goes on to describe that “the oppressed have no comforter, and power is on the side of the oppressors”(Eccles. 4:1). He also says that “man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other…. all come from dust, and to dust all return” (Eccl. 3:19&20).
I have had these same emotions. What good is all the hard work that I do? What good is all the suffering that I go through now? I long to teach my children what it means to love in spite of hurt that others cause. But the world teaches that justice must be served. That a man should repay in kind what has been done to him. The voices of those who care nothing about God’s commands seek to drown out the truth that I try to pass on. What good is it for me to even speak the truth now? I am only human. Will people not see all the faults that I have? Will they even listen to anything that I have to say? When I am gone, will they all just say that I was just an old fool who was full of my own self-righteousness? Will they ever see the work that God was doing in me?
But amidst all my worries of what will or will not become of my life, I read this truth…. “What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in it’s time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end….. I know that everything that God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.” (Eccles. 3:9-11&14).
So, the bottom line is that nothing in this life is meaningless. Nothing is a chasing after the wind. Because when it comes right down to it, God has a purpose for everything in our lives. What I do with my life now is what matters. My life began, I am living it, but someday it will come to an end. Just like the plant that I had given up hope of ever taking root. The one that I was ready to throw away because of what I didn’t see. But God saw more in that plant, and He sees more in me. I am living because He has purpose for me, even in the midst of all my struggles. And even if I can’t see the good that He will bring out of all of those struggles, I am still called to live as God has asked me to. Because He has a plan, and none of His plans are meaningless. So as Solomon says, “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do….. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working or planning nor knowledge or wisdom…. Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come.” (Eccles. 9:7,10&12).
God, let me live out all of my days knowing that if I am living for you nothing is meaningless. Let me not be afraid of what might not come of my life. But let me lean on your understanding and know that you will accomplish what you have purposed for my life. And that is all that matters in the end!!
POSTED BY KRISTIN AT 8:16 PM