In my last journey, I was talking about how we, as individuals, can get the timing
wrong, because we superimpose our own human ideas and plans on the situation.
This led to my expecting to die in April and feeling that God had told me it
would be the case. Since I am still alive, I got it wrong and there may have
been many reasons for that, which God knew and were beyond my understanding.
On Friday the matter of timing was raised again, this time by the doctor and it
has been amazing how many conversations and telephone calls have taken place
with medical people about timing and extra needs in my ongoing care, much of
which has crept up unexpectedly. One of the most interesting is a blow up
cushion, which is used in many different ways, one of which makes me resemble a
wobbly out of control man trying to balance on the folded mat. Whilst funny to
me, it does work (little things amuse small minds).
But any way back to the question of timing and the words of Ecclesiastes 3 – There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace…I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men to do be happy and do good while they live (vs.1-12).
When thinking back to funerals taken, you might have thought I would have used these
words many times on such occasions and yet I haven’t. But they are appropriate
for today, because they remind us that God is the eternal time keeper, He knows
the timing for everything and we are called to trust Him for each day, week,
month and year.
It is not always easy, because we want to know these things and yet if we’re
honest neither knowing nor not really help us day to day. That is why Jesus
tells us to seek the Father’s kingdom and His righteousness, not worry about
tomorrow, because to do so can only bring on more stress (Matthew 6:33-34).
The worry is often about how Cathryn and the boys will cope following my death, and
yet that same assurance that God is in charge of time and that His timing is
perfect, there are is also a sense in which I have been watching God preparing
Cathryn, Matt and Luke for my death as well through conversation and changing
prayers. The support of wider family, friends and church has also been so
amazing and just timed perfectly, e.g. my cousin, who not knowing what to say
just phoned anyway to say I’m thinking about you. It was more than enough. If
you find yourself in a similar situation, then try to use the time for
everything under heaven, including a phone call, rather than regret later
entering into a conspiracy of silence.
The verses also hint at our having something else planted in our hearts and minds –
a sense of the eternal – something beyond the here and now. This is the nub of
faith in Jesus. It takes us beyond the not knowing of this life into a sure
and certain hope of something better, which opens up through the work of the
Holy Spirit, who is given to all believers and seekers to help them grow in
their relationship with God the Father, through Jesus the Son. Once we enter
into this relationship, believing that Jesus was born as a baby for us, to grow
like us, tempted in every way like us and yet was obedient to His Father in
every way – found without sin – so that He could sacrifice Himself on the altar
of the cross as the sinless spotless Son of God. Jesus was the one off
acceptable sacrifice for all humanity, shown in His resurrection, with over 500
eye witnesses, and the empty grave, followed by the ascension. The church
celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit in power at Pentecost (this weekend)
and my prayer is that you will encounter Him and know the filling of the eternal.
For those of you who have joined the journey, please take the time to reflect, get
in touch and if you have questions I will try to answer them. Above all, I hope
that in joining the journey, you might pick up the signposts to Jesus, who is
really the answer to your questions now and in the future.