May 17th, 2024 Be Still: Daily Devotional

Today is May 17th.    
   
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit.     
   
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”    
 
Today’s reading is from the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3.  
 

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. 
  What do workers gain from their toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  
 

The writer of Ecclesiastes is well versed in reflecting on the breadth of experiences of life that life brings to us. We now commonly refer to seasons of our own life. We may say it’s a hard season or a good season. Try and be more specific about the season you are in. Is it a time of planting or uprooting? Weeping or laughing? Silence or speaking? Loving or hating? Keeping something or throwing it away? Embracing or refraining from embracing?  
 
The writer does a lot of reflecting on what he calls the “meaningless of life” on earth. That the seasons of life, our experiences of the here and now, don’t fulfill us, no matter how good. In response to that the author says that god has set eternity in the human heart. As you hear the passage again, can you feel the longing for eternity? 
  
He has made everything beautiful in its time. No matter what season you are in, can you turn to God in prayer? Can you ask him to make everything beautiful... in it’s time?  

Lord God, Almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do, direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  

Music: All Things - Heaven and Earth - (YouTube)