Looking through the Peephole

~~~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 ~~~ Psalm 144 ~~~ Luke 9: 18-22 ~~~

 

One of the most often quoted verses from the book of Ecclesiastes

is the reading we have today. It is often chosen to be read at funerals too.

It is a passage that puts all things in perspective.

It addresses a sort of balance in life.

It speaks of actions and emotions.

It helps us to see that all things are in God's domain.

 

"There is an appointed time for everything...under the heavens...

 

It reminds us that God, in his loving care,

 had us in his mind even before we were born.

He knew when we would be born, how long we will live,

and he knows all we will experience in our life time.

To God there is no time as we know time,

yet this author imposes time upon

his writing as God's time.

 

The author is giving God credit for all that we experience in our lives;

both things perceived as good and bad.

Whatever we are doing in our life or whatever we see happening around us;

God is at work...God is present.

 

"...He (God) has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without man's ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done."

  

God had a Divine plan that we cannot see.

We are to believe that the things that happen in our life have some purpose.

It is easy perhaps to believe God has planned the good in our life.

It is much more difficult to believe that even those things we feel are negative

also serve God's plan for us.

 

  

It is humbling to pray the words of today's psalm...

 

"...LORD, what is man, that you notice him;
the son of man, that you take thought of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days, like a passing shadow."

 

How can I begin to think that God would notice me

when there are so many people in the world.

 

God has put love, kindness, and forgiveness into our hearts.

These are just a few of the timeless things; timeless because they endure

when all else is passing.

The timeless things of the heart create a bridge linking

the positive and negative times in our life.

 

It is fitting that we have the question from Luke today... 

"But who do you say that I am?"

 

Is God personal enough for you to answer that question?

It is a timeless question.

It is a question that you can ask yourself throughout your life.

 

Who is God to you?

The God who has appointed times for things while

simultaneously placing timeless things within our heart.

It seems somewhat contradictory,

but not surprising.

 

We cannot expect God's ways to be easily understood,

after all he is God and we are not.

He sees all things in the larger context

while we see things as through a peephole.

 

As you look through the peephole of your life,

who do you say God is?

I invite you to sit a moment today with that question.

Lord, when I do not agree with your timing of events for my life;

 help me to accept them with the help

of those timeless things you placed in my heart.