I don’t know about you, but I’ve about had it with COVID-19. Masks, social distancing, lines, shutdowns, information overload, and who really knows what is true and what is manipulation! I’ve just about reached my limit.
Not that I’m ready to chuck reason or throw caution to the wind. I still want to examine carefully personal practices that might affect someone else’s well-being, but, I long for yesterday, before hand sanitizer and tape on the floor.
I console myself in this season of challenge with these words from the third chapter of the Old Testament wisdom book, Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV) 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.
There is a season for everything, even COVID- 19. But, who says so? Who says that summer must yield way to autumn and autumn to winter and winter, in the northland, to second winter and then spring? Who says day must fade to night and night surrender to dawn? Who says that babes must become toddlers and toddlers kindergartners and kindergartners quarterbacks and quarterbacks senators and senators, eventually, worm fodder (as must we all)?
Who says? Who made the rules? Who set the seasons? Who dictates the times? The answer of Ecclesiastes is simple: God does. The seasons of life are not the working of random chance but the outcome of divine intent. Ecclesiastes declares, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
COVID-19? Beautiful? Deadly, yes. Destructive, yes. Unwanted, yes. But beautiful? Somebody’s got some ‘splaining to do!
The seasons of life, with all their joys and sorrows, fit the purpose of God to make known in creation His glory, His power, His perfections, His wisdom, His mercy, His justice, His righteousness, His holiness, His compassion, His love. Even COVID-19. Even isolation and separation and inconvenience and illness. God reigns sovereignly over all these things, including the timing, the intensity, and the outcomes of each season. Every experience in all creation beckons us to ask of God, Who are You, and how may we find You in this mess?
Those who seek God, God says, will find Him when they seek for Him with all their heart. Now is a great time to turn to God and ask, “Who are You? What are you revealing about Yourself, Your character, Your heart, Your plan in this season, in these events?” It is a time to open prayerfully and eagerly open God’s word and ask the hard questions, knowing He will answer if we seek with an open and willing heart.
2020 is not a Godforsaken year in the history of the world. Like every year since the first one, it has its place and it’s purpose. Look for God in this season. Look for His purpose in your life, in your family, in your community, in your nation, and in the world. “For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” God says so.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. Pastor Dale McIntire has served as pastor of the Cornerstone Community Church in Grand Marais since April of 1995.
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