Sunday Devotionals - A Time for Everything

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 them,
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.

Ecclesiastes 3



"What a winter it has been! It has been so long with so much snow. I'm sure glad that spring is finally here aren't you?"

I bet you have heard someone say those words recently. Spring hasn't come soon enough for many people I know. What a long winter it has been. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of the cold, dreary winter and have summer all year long?

God doesn't think so. He tells us in Ephesians that there is a time for everything. And that means a time for sunny summers and cold dreary winters. God has created a balance in our world. Imagine how boring going to the beach everyday would soon be if we didn't have the first snow to look forward to. Imagine how quickly we would get tired of making snowmen and hot chocolate if there weren't the picnics in the park to look forward to.

God also tells there is a time for happiness and for sadness. Life is full of disappointments; sickness, injuries, deaths. Although sadness isn't an enjoyable part of life there is a time for it. Without sadness, we wouldn't appreciate our joyful times and how wonderful they truly are. Being happy all the time would be boring because we wouldn't know any other emotion.

So the next time something sad or hurtful comes along in life, don't despair. God has assured us the bad times won't last forever. Winter won't last forever either. Happiness will come again. Those sad times will make those happy times that much better when they come.

Dear God, Thank you for sun and rain, happiness and sadness, and the balance of our world. Help me to be happy for everything you have given me, even those things that are unpleasant. Amen.