Everything Has Its Time

There is a time for everything........

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 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)

Yes, everything has its own time and season. The day must gives way to the night, and likewise autumn has to give way to winter. Leaves wither in the autumn, indicating the arrival of winter. The long and cold winter takes the life of many plants away. Leaves die and as the strong and freezing breeze in the dark and lonely winter night blows, it causes them to fall to ground. As a result, the tree has no leaves, and its life is threatened. It seems as though the snow and rain have buried it into deep ground.

As spring approaches, the sun starts to shine, the snow melts slowly and everything is livened up again. The "bald" tree was thought to be dead. To the surprise of many, it did not. Instead, it regenerates and newborn leaves emerge as the sunlight continue to shine on it. No, this seemingly dead tree wasn't dead, and it has become stronger than ever, its roots were forced to deepened into the soil thanks to the strong wind during the winter months and it'll not be shaken easily. As months pass by, summer quickly approaching and the tree becomes even greener than ever.

Many times in our life, we fail to see the purpose behind each of our sufferings. We focus on our problem, and as a result our problem grows from a tiny obstacles to a big mountain in front of us, unknowing that by faith we can move the mountain, and by believing in God deliverance will come, in His time. We become frustrated because deliverance does not come immediately right after we pray, and we are so impatient to wait even a minute. We all are too "short-sighted", we don't know that God is trying to strengthen our character through challenges. You'll never learn the lesson unless you are being put to test and succeed. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job23:10).

I remember a sister once said, "I will choose to live in bad times if I were given a choice between living in good or bad times, because I know that in bad times, I can experience God even more." Her statement left me in awe. I don't understand why she would make such a foolish decision. I don't think anyone of us want to live in bad times. I hate problems, I seriously do. I wish my life was smooth sailing all the way. But God never allows such thought. I realize in recent years that at any point of time when life is happy-go-lucky, something must have been gone wrong, something is not right. Sure enough, problem knocked my door recently. I was very upset by what has happened and there's nothing much I can do to fix it. The very first thought that came to my mind was "all things work for the good of those who love God." Hard to accept the fact and even harder to console myself with those words, I was nearly defeated by the problem. But then again, those words kept on repeating and I became better after that. I started to reflect on all the things that I did in my life, and sadly many things I had done were not pleasing God. Sin came in and broke every good thing in life. I realise that my faith was weakened, and eventually I decided to fast and pray to gain back some strength. Suddenly, Holy spirit reminded me once again about what the sister had said, that she'd rather live in bad times. I realise that she was right, that in every challenges, God shows Himself even more and His presence is stronger. Ultimately, you'll conquer your enemy and win the battle and that's when you will appreciate God even more, because you get to witness His faithfulness.

Now I can see the beauty behind every problem, trial or hardship. I've learn to wait patiently, because deliverance will only come in His time. I've learnt to humble myself, knowing that I have limited strength to fight the battle. I've learnt to trust, believing that He'll rescue me in due time. I've learnt to repent also after Holy spirit reminded me about my sin and those things which displease God. Last but not least, I've learnt to give thanks to Him for God has drawn me closer to Him through life's challenges. And if you ask me the same question as what others had asked that sister which I mentioned earlier, I will tell you that I would choose to live in bad times, because I can see His hands working in the dark hour.

A life which is a bed of roses is meaningless.............