A time for everything

by Holley Gerth
I’m facing the beach. The sun has just slipped above the sea. I sip coffee and my thoughts roll, roll, roll, like the waves.
Unbidden, concerns come to the surface.
What about…?
When will I…?
How can I…?
I could fill in those blanks a thousand different ways.
And yet this morning one passage from Ecclesiastes seems to be the answer to all of them…
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Each sentence flows over my soul. And I realize, if all the waves came in at once it would be too much for us. We’d drown in our desires.
And so we wait, watch the shore, trust the hand and heart of the One who brings us what is best in its time.
Lord, we surrender to your ways.
We yield to your rhythm.
We who hurry choose to let
each answer in our lives have its moment.
Give us your time for everything…
and help us trust you for all things.
Amen.