The Byrds, the bees, and me?

 A warning before reading this blog 
1. I do not deem myself as one whose ministry is preaching.  
2. My life has been transformed by what I'm about to share.
3. I want to share it with you, but it may be long and I might sound, ack! preachy! 
4. Hang in there, it'll be worth it. Thanks to Pastor Brian for sharing it with me in a time when I desperately needed it. 

For the past 3 weeks, the pastor at my church has brought us through the first few chapters of Ecclesiastes. If you're like me, the only thing you knew about the book of Ecclesiastes was....well.... nothing. Oh, yes - wait! I do remember something slightly about, "to every thing, turn, turn, turn.. there is a season turn, turn, turn....and a time to every purpose - under heaven". Are you singing yet? The only thing I remember about a book in the Bible is - ta da - a song written in the '60s? I'm sure the Lord LOVES that. I am quite the hippie, now. Don't count me out of much. 


We have been using the sermon on Sundays as a guideline to discuss more in-depth questions on Wednesday nights in our community groups. Here are the verses we read on Sunday: 

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15 

A Time for Everything

3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

 I challenge you to not skim over these next paragraphs. Take the time to read, chew, and process the seriousness of what God is trying to tell us. This idea has changed my way of thinking recently, for the good. 

The Byrds almost ruined this text. They turned a driving & difficult text into a little ditty associated with Forest Gump and the sweeping pluralism of the 1960s. The times Solomon reminds us of in this text are not about simple seasons in our lives, rather Solomon's point is to follow on from his conclusions in Chapter 2, to describe the providence of God in all the events in our lives. He lists 14 pairs of situation and attributes them to the sovereign purposes of God. He has ordained their times, starting with the time we were and the time we die. This is devastating to our sense of autonomy and it builds on Solomon's confession in Chapter 2, that the enjoyment of our toil as well as our eating and drinking is a gift from God. 

We shouldn't think for a minute that Solomon envisions a capricious or arbitrary God. He tells us that God's ways are inscrutable, but they are purposeful ("He makes all things beautiful in its time").  He sovereignty is total, and it guided by a good purpose. His purpose is to be known, obeyed, trusted and loved. This is the great beauty God intends of us. Solomon ends by commending to us that this sovereignty serves as the basis for Christan contentment. Because he is sovereign, because our circumstances are guided by a purposeful good God, joy is made possible. This may seem surprising after 2 chapters of vapor. But this is Solomon's preliminary conclusion. God reign, so enjoy your short and vaporous life. 

 Okay, there is bad news and good news here. Which do you want to hear first? I'd always go for the bad news (And believe me, the good news is REALLY good. I've got you in suspense, don't I?), so here it is: 


  Your life is vain. Plain and simple. Society tells us that everything under the sun matters, right? I mean, if you just get that right promotion, marry the right person, buy perfect house, have the perfect child - everything will be okay. If we just drink the right wine (ha! that makes us seem smarter, doesn't it), fill our lives with the pleasures of the world, consider ourselves wise - then surely this will make life seem satisfactory. Surely! We search for things that we think are going to make a name for us in this world. Something that will set us apart from one another. But, the truth is that we live in a cycle. We live, we die. The same things re-occur over, and over, and over again. Nothing is new. And we will die. Every part of our lives that we lived for, gone. Depressing, right? 


I had to stop and ask myself this question, " What are you looking at to provide lasting happiness??"  


At this point, you should be asking yourself, "Get to the point. I want the good news". That was totally me.  I longed for that life application where I could dig myself out of such a self-serving hole I had dug and was absolutely stuck in. *See previous blog where I talked about my funk* 


The good news - JOY! What gain does a worker have for his toil? Solomon tells us to find JOY in our toil (AKA those things that we deal with on a daily basis). Eat, Drink, and take JOY in your toil. Celebrate your daily life because in the end it doesn't matter. All that matters is holding onto that rock that you can feel, but can't see because of the vapor in your life. Solomon wants us to see 3 things: 


 1. Your life has a purpose.
 2. Your life cannot be seen from beginning to end. God has put eternity in man's heart that makes us groan for something solid. 
 3. Nothing can be taken or added from what He wants to do. God's purposes are beautiful and you can't see how the dots connect for a reason...however, know that his purposes are unstoppable and beautiful. 


So, whatever vapor you may find yourself in  (anxiety, fear, depression, etc.), God is chasing you. It is only in this realization that you can say there is nothing better than to be joyful - to see life through your toil. To look back on it and, laugh, maybe? To be JOYFUL and surpass that circumstantial happiness, understanding to the fullest degree that life is a mere vapor in the wind. 


I pray that this message will take ahold of you and change your life. I have been so worried about what is next in our life. If I'm preaching, I'm totally preaching to myself. So, there you have it. 


And here are some pictures of what my vaporous life has been like today: 


This was the view outside our door for the majority of the day today - what is a woman to do? 

Wrigley knew what to do, play outside in the snow! 

These pots were filled with orchids that needed to be re potted and replanted. The pots had no holes in them and the plants were in plastic pots that were not at all the right environment. I went to home depot and bought supplies..... 

And voila! After cutting the rotted roots and giving the orchid new soil and a new pot with air holes on the sides - hopefully my orchids will send up a new shoot pretty soon so that I can enjoy beautiful bloom this spring! This is the most healthy of the 2.....my other one was pretty sick looking.

Here is the 2nd orchid that was much more sickly. It's growing a new leaf and hopefully it will be happier in this new pot.

So then, my Nook and I spent about 100 pages together reading about a girl with a dragon tattoo, which was quite entertaining!

All in all, my Saturday was quite vaporous and beautiful. I'm no long searching for the next best thing (at least, I'm trying not to), and focusing on my daily life, not focusing on the future in which I'm trying to force that would "make my life better."


I love you, love wins!