Know That The Time Is Appropriate

September 28, 2018

From today’s reading…

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die;… He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts,…”

This sounds quaint.

This sounds like common sense.

This sounds inspiring…and uplifting…and enlightened.

Then you see your uncle moved into hospice with stage four stomach cancer just one month after he discovered that he was even sick.

Then you’re angry…confused…uninspired…unenlightened.

Then you see that the one we came to pity and mourn is the one making jokes with his shallow breath, his raspy voice…through the pain…and the painkillers.

It’s my aunt, my cousins, my parents, myself that ask why this is the appropriate time for my uncle.

Why is it that

Man is like a breath; his days, like a passing shadow”?

We’ve all read these words for 48 and 70 and 80 years.

We think we know them.

We think we understand them.

We think we believe them.

So why do we have trouble accepting the appropriateness of the timing when bad things happen to good people?

Like all things in life, you never know how good you are at something until you are tested.

You can watch a video on YouTube about how to ride a bike, hit a golf ball, or beat someone in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and think you know what to do.

That all goes out the window as soon as you start to pedal, grab your club, or step onto the sparring mat.

Like muscles and skills, your faith grows through applied effort and resistance.

Airplanes fly against the wind for maximum lift—and safety.

And only through the development of a strong and growing faith that has been tested and proven capable will we be able to…

Stay the course.Keep the faith.Endure.