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.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
What a week this has been for Texas. For some, time inched by as the temperatures in their houses fell to below freezing and waterfalls fell from kitchen ceilings. Our house was spared some of the devastation others suffered. Instead, our place became a winter wonderland.
I struggled as I often do during times like these. Why was I spared? Why am I comfortably trapped, unable to help the suffering? I wanted to serve at our church’s shelter, give out meals to truckers on the road, offer shelter to someone. Our driveway impassable, the only thing I could do was pray.
The only thing I could do was pray.
I so often view prayer as a last resort, as a small insignificant act. It’s not. So I spread my prayers like seed for the birds.
I pray that water would flow again.
I pray that God will brush aside the snow and provide food for the hungry.
In God’s timing, this is what I can do. I have and will go through times of suffering. The snow will melt and there will still be plenty for me to do. Life is such a mixture of pain and joy. We should not miss the times of beauty that God has provided for us.
If you are in the midst of a time of suffering right now, know that God has not forgotten you. He sees you. Take time to grieve the losses. You might find it helpful to write your own lament psalm.
If you are in a time of joy and plenty, take time to thank God and enjoy his gifts to you. Share what you have to those that might not be so fortunate. God has blessed you so that you may be a blessing to others.
Maybe he has called you to rest in this season, to just relax as a child of God, to remember that he is the Savior and you are not.
What has God called for you to do during this winter season?