One Small Seed Newsletter – Edition #240, March 2021
Greetings Friends,
Today is the first day of another spring, and the very idea and thought bring joy. I am reminded of Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 3, which begins with: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…. a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance… a time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.” Chapter 3 continues: “I know that whatsoever God does, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God does it that men should fear before him. That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been; and God requires that which is past. Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
Spring is a season for renewing, rebuilding and refreshing. Many have chosen the first day of the year to make their resolutions, but I think that the first day of spring would be a better time. Of course, my resolve was determined many years ago and on the first day of every week I’m reminded of that. My faith-based resolve is to serve God with all my spirit, soul and mind and seek out his plan and purpose for my life. I know, from studying his word, that if I live according to his plan, I am bringing him pleasure and this way, whatever season it is, he is blessing me.
There are some things in life that I have learned that Solomon didn’t put on his list, but they are very important. There are positives and there are negatives in life. It seems that for every positive there are ten negatives, but the strength of the positive is stronger than twenty negatives. The Bible says to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” The wisdom of God is stronger than a million opinions. As Solomon said, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” It’s like driving down a crooked country road, sometimes we turn to the right, sometimes to the left and sometimes straight ahead. Every moment there is a decision to make and very little time to make it. Every moment we must be alert and aware, to make sure we make the right decision at the right time. Since this is a crooked road, speed is a major factor, plus there are hidden things, sudden stops, oncoming traffic, wild animals and many other things to cause us to make decisions on a moment’s notice.
How is this drive down this crooked road, in a thunder storm, in the darkness of night, like the presence of God? When we get to the end of this road the first question we ask is, why did I take this road? Let me tell you, I’ve been there more than one time in my life. Most of the time ignorance of the road was my problem, but all of the time it was my choice and my decision. So where was God making judgments? In all of those road signs telling us to drive slowly, a certain speed, a sharp curve, a hidden drive, a deer crossing, a school bus stop, a railroad crossing, falling rock area and stop signs. There is also the knowledge we have that tells us common sense things, like turning on your headlights if it’s getting dark, slow down if it starts to rain (as soon as you turn on your wipers), dim your lights to oncoming traffic and brighten your lights when you are alone. One thing to remember when we get to the end of the road; don’t say, I made it or we made it, say, with God’s help we made it.
Common mistakes are learning experiences, if we let them be that. We learn that crooked roads aren’t to be driven on at night, in a storm, when we are tired or anytime if they can be avoided. We learn that some advice from someone or GPS isn’t always good, especially when it is given with, “this is a shortcut or a scenic route”. We learn that using a road map is better advice than opinions and guesses.
This is why God gave us the Bible, because it is filled with wisdom on living in a crooked world and driving on a crooked path. It teaches us how to avoid or overcome our tribulations of life and it teaches us that, even though God has put us in the driver seat in this world, we can have help through the driving process. He lets us be in control and make our own decisions but puts up the road signs so we’ll know there will be consequences if we don’t heed the advice. And “There is a time there for every purpose and for every work”.
Colossians 1:9-12… We desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of God’s Will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; Amen.
Your friend in Christ,
Rodney