There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Three bathing suits and a dress for $15.74. Was this in the 1950’s? No, it was last December off the clearance rack at JC Penney.

Why so cheap? Because my treasures were out of season. They would have netted the merchant a couple of hundred dollars just a few months earlier. But in early winter, shoppers are lining up to buy sweaters, coats, and scarfs. Bathing suits aren’t needed when temperatures are below freezing. Unless you are off to a tropical island or are crazy enough to do the Polar Plunge into the frigid Atlantic.

Seasons are important to merchants. And they are even more critical to us.

In Ecclesiastes chapter three we learn a simple yet profound truth. There is a time for everything (Eccl. 3:1).

In life, we have seasons. What is appropriate during one time of our lives is inappropriate in another.

The Bible tells us that there is . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance (Eccl 3:4).

At a wedding we can expect dancing and laughter. My youngest daughter got married last month. She did a great job in planning her special day from the flowers, music, colors, and venue. And it turned out to be lots of fun.

When someone dies, we expect the opposite. My husband is a pastor and has conducted many funerals. And never once has he seen dancing at a funeral. Instead it is a time of tears, quietness, and reminiscing.

I know I do better if I accept the season I’m in not the one I want to be in. 

When we face any type of devastating loss—a financial downturn, the break-up of a close relationship, a failed business, or a serious accident we experience deep sorrow. And we long for the pain to end. Yet day after day we struggle just to make it. 

Grief must run its course. It is necessary to travel through a period of sadness, questioning, anger, low energy, tearfulness, and sleepless nights.

If we embrace the grief journey we will eventually reach the other side—allowing the tears to flow. The sun will shine again and we will once again feel more normal. But sometimes it isn’t that time yet.

Last fall, I glanced out my office and was shocked to see large black birds congregating on a nearby roof. Not just a few birds but a lot of birds. Hundreds of birds. It was rather eerie. The last time I saw this many birds was when I watched the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, The Birds. The movie that is responsible for the terror my generation feels when we see a flock of black birds.

God has built into these featured creatures when to gather for their flight south for the winter. These black birds know what time it is.

Embrace your season. 

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I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world  (John 16:33).

Tell that to my heart when I’ve scrolled through my favorite online news website or am attempting to relax while watching the news.

I’m not alone as I silently and not so silently protest against the tribulation in the world. I want calm. I want peace. I want life to resemble the Garden of Eden before everything went south. Beautiful, fragrant, and problem free.

I desire to overcome the negativity of the world, but lately I’m not doing a great job.

When I don’t, the pain in the world envelopes my moods like a cloud of gnats.  I feel my joy evaporating when I’m listening to a news reporter at the site of the latest natural disaster. Or when I watch the violent protests erupt in yet another city. Or the worst is when I see a picture of a bald but smiling child with terminal cancer. My heart cries, “too much.”

On my walk, today I spotted a bumper sticker that read, “If you are not upset you are not listening.” I wanted to follow up with, “I am upset because I am listening, now what?” I have yet to find a bumper sticker that tells me what to do with my churning insides. Especially after repeat exposure to yet another tragedy.

Our culture does a great job of pointing out the problems of this world, yet gets dismal ratings on offering workable solutions.

God tells me I’m not to stay in that upset place where crazy is the new norm and peace is peculiar.

My seminary professor, Dr. Howard Hendricks, loved to say, “God is not in heaven wringing his hands.” What a great visual.  We need to remind ourselves that nothing that happens in our lives or in the world has taken the Lord by surprise.

So, when we are tempted to be overwhelmed with all the negativity, we need to change our focus. Instead of fixating on the problems we would benefit from gazing upward.

My counseling office is located on the top floor of a tall commercial building. One side of my suite is lined with a wall of windows.  I love to look out into the horizon. Things that loom large at eye level become small. So too our large problems appear to shrink in size when we consider our all-powerful God.

Especially in this time in history, we need a view from the top. God is in control. We need to remind ourselves of this truth daily.

But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Is there a situation in your life that you need to view from a heavenly perspective? 

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At 1:30 p.m. last Wednesday I received a weather advisory on my phone—squall coming in an hour. At 2:30 p.m. I could no longer see the Philadelphia skyline from my office.

With winds gusting at 50 mph, the squall painted everything outside my window white. Even nearby buildings couldn’t be seen.

Loss is often like a squall—it comes on with little to no warning blinding us to any clear path.  

We become consumed with overwhelming feelings.

Sometimes those feelings lie to us telling us life will never be good again.

We can give into despair. This happens all the time—especially with a catastrophic loss.

Jennifer lost her young husband to a life-threatening illness one December. She was so immersed in the sorrow and pain that she canceled Christmas. No tree, no celebrations, no Christmas cookies, and no presents.

Over a decade later she continues to cancel Christmas, not only for herself, but also her daughter. Jennifer is still swimming in her in pain feeling hopeless.   

Sometimes we can fall into the trap of believing the lie that life will never get any better. Then we become passive—giving up trying. We fall into what counselors call, learned helplessness.

Loss not grieved can lead to feelings of helplessness. Like the squall, we can’t see what is right in front of us.

Naomi in the Bible comes to mind when I think of a person in scripture who gave up trying. Loss upon loss—her immediate family all died. First her husband, and then her two sons. All she had left was her Moabite daughter-in-laws.

When Naomi heard that the famine had lifted in Israel, she decided to leave Moab to go back home. However, one of her daughter-in-law’s, Ruth, insisted upon going back with her.

The two widowed women trudged along on the dusty road back to Bethlehem. When they finally arrived, we learn that the whole town was stirred. That kind of thing happens in a small town—everything is news.

“Can this be Naomi?” the townswomen exclaimed (Ruth 1:19).

Naomi silences her friends and tells them to call her, Mara, which means bitter.

“I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty” (Ruth 1:21).

Fast forward to the end of the story. Ruth marries Boaz (a kinsman redeemer).  Together they have a child they named Obed. And this boy brought so much joy to Naomi, who at one time thought all was hopeless. The icing on the cake was that Obed was also in the family line of Christ.

In reality, Naomi did not come back empty. But she couldn’t see it that way. In her eyes all she could see was pain. Yet, there was hope.

“. . . and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Blessings to you.  Dee

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