Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
August 31, 2023
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens: 2 a time for giving birth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted, 3 a time for killing and a time for healing, a time for tearing down and a time for building up, 4 a time for crying and a time for laughing, a time for mourning and a time for dancing, 5 a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces, 6 a time for searching and a time for losing, a time for keeping and a time for throwing away, 7 a time for tearing and a time for repairing, a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking, 8 a time for loving and a time for hating, a time for war and a time for peace.
Good Morning. We love you, Lord, and we lift our voices in praise!
How many times do we find ourselves, “Why now?” Sometimes things happen before we are ready, and other times it takes too long. Children have an especially hard time with the concept of time, but we all struggle with it.
According to The Oxford Dictionary, time is defined as the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole. I was surprised by the word indefinite in the definition. We each have a beginning and an end, but we enter life not knowing when our end will come. We measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Did you know that one year has 525,600 minutes?
The song Seasons of Love from the Broadway Musical, Rent, has come to my mind several times this week. I don’t think this is a coincidence, but God’s mysterious ways at work. This song speaks to our need to measure life not in terms of minutes but in terms of love.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
How about love? How about love?
How about love? Measure in love
Seasons of love Seasons of love
We must also remember that God’s time is not our time. “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” Peter 3:8. In this verse, Peter reminds us that God's timing does not match the timing of man or woman. What you may perceive as a lifetime, God sees as one day or a thousand years.
God is Love! God measures time in love! Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7
We must worry less about time measured by earthly numeric standards and measure our lives in love. When we live immersed in love, every minute is precious and remains to infinity. In our humanness, the time will never be right, but in God’s time, everything is right.
Loving God, We thank you for the time we have to be together. For us, it seems we never have enough time, but you give us all the time in the world. We love you! Thank you! In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: I will wait on God’s timing.
Measure time in love! Pastor Liz
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