A Time to Grow
by youth pastor Christina Fischer
Each of these devotional blogs entries is meant to be read on your own or if you have family or friends you live with, to be read together aloud. A suggestion is to do this after you have dinner around the table together. At the conclusion, please spend time in personal reflection or in sharing with one another your answers to the questions at the end. Be sure to conclude with prayer.
Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens: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 from embracing,
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.
Numerous times the past few weeks we have noticed that we forget what day or even month it is. Has this happened to you? We were talking as a family recently about how time is passing and we have lost our “anchor points” for keeping track of days. Days, weeks, and months are passing, and it is hard to keep track when we don’t have those regular activities to help us maintain awareness of time. When we physically go to Church on Sundays and Wednesdays it creates “anchor points” for us to be able to frame our mind around the passing of time. We are living life and doing the things that need done, but find ourselves asking, “What day is this?”
Do you find the same in you or your family? I am finding the need to connect with people and the desire to reach others to be overwhelming at times. The verse above is a timely reminder that we need to realize that there is a time for everything that happens. Every situation that we go through is a chance for us to see God work in us and through us. Our responses and what we do with the time we are given is our reflection of His presence in our lives.
Earlier this week, I spoke with one of our senior members. As we were discussing his long life and all the world events that have affected his life, the thought entered my mind that THIS time is such an event that will affect us all for the rest of our lives. He talked about World War II, Korean War, and so on then we both realized that the students I work with don’t really have anything that life-altering in their personal history. This pandemic will impact them and their future decisions.
We may go back to normal when this is through, or we may have a new normal. I can confidently say that we will all be telling the stories for generations of Quarantine 2020. This event will have far-reaching impact that will affect how we behave as individuals. I can only imagine that it will be similar to those in the past that went through the Great Depression and how it affected them.
What if this time that we are apart, we use as a time to build a relationship with our family and with our Savior? What if we invested this time into prayer and spiritual growth? Can you imagine the revival that will come about in our land that is desperately needed?
Let us be purposeful in our pursuit of those life-giving habits that will change us, our families, and our communities for Him.
Reflect on these questions with someone else or on your own:
- How are you spending your time during our “safer at home” quarantine?
- Are there life-giving habits you can use this time to begin?
- Just for fun…listen to Quarantine Life by Matthew West – this song is fun and the last verse is me exactly. I cannot wait to give you all hugs when it is safe to do so. Please know that you are loved.
