by Carol Cloer
Anticipation. It fills our minds with all kinds of possibilities for the future. It focuses us on future events and can help us prepare for the unexpected. It can be fun to think about the future and all it may hold, but if we concentrate on the future too much, we miss what is happening in the present. Growing up, one of my favorite Bible verses was Ecclesiastes 3:1. That reference may not ring a bell for you, but if you were born before 1965 you will probably remember these words. (Maybe even those born up to 1975). “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Ecc 3:1 KJV
I have read this verse many times and in many different translations and my favorite is still KJV. It speaks to me when I am anxious. When things are all a mess, it let’s me know that God still has a plan and He is still on the Throne. As the 1965 Byrd’s song says, the world keeps turning, (“turn, turn, turn…”) but God’s plan is still unfolding and there is a time for everything within His plan. The question is, are you on God’s timetable or yours? We have our own plans, and, in many cases, we focus on our plans to the exclusion of all others. We need to ask ourselves, “Who has the best information about what’s coming?” It certainly isn’t us. God sees the future, the past and the present. We can only see what has happened and what is happening right in front of us. And even then, our vision is often cloudy and we don’t understand what we think we are seeing. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 says it best: “For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.” NRSV
God has a plan. We have a place in it. Are we walking in that space or are we lagging behind, running ahead or scattered out doing our own thing? When we fill our place in God’s plan, the journey is easier. We see more. We understand more. We are content to walk the path knowing that, when the time comes, we will understand it all. God’s timing, God’s plan, God’s purpose. Our job is to follow, trusting Him even when we can’t see the next step. God’s love is greater than we can imagine. Trust His love when you can’t see His plan and trust His timing for every purpose under heaven.