Golden Threads

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them…” Eccl 3:1-5

I can look back over the course of my life and see that these pearls of wisdom from King Solomon are still true today. Life is made up of seasons that are marked by circumstances. In my own life, there have been beautiful seasons of the births of my children. There have been heartbreaking seasons of the deaths of my loved ones. There have been seasons where God had me planting seeds, and other times when He had me uprooting unlovely heart attitudes. I have walked out times where tears were my companion, and other seasons where laughter was my friend. I have mourned relationships, and I have danced at weddings. I pray I have scattered stones of encouragement and I have gathered stones of comfort and compassion. I believe where we get tripped up is when we linger in a season that God has brought to a close.

God orchestrates all things in every season from beginning to end. He determines how long we need to reside in our seasons, as He has purpose and promise in each segment of time. Our lives will display a beautiful tapestry before it is over. There will be threads of pain but colors of beauty revealing order to the chaos. Life is filled with times to begin new things…times in the middle to push hard…times near the end to finish well. We move in and through our lives in a spiritually rhythmic flow that makes and molds us into the people whom God created us to be. We cannot fight the seasons for they will win every time. We must embrace what God has for us, believing and trusting that everything we experience is being woven into our beautiful tapestry. We must allow God to move us from season to season if we want to experience His blessings, walk in His freedom and claim His promises. We must be faithful here, so He can move us there.

Whatever we experience today, may it be recognized as the golden thread that is being woven into our beautiful tapestry where seasons are connected, and one day our beautiful story will be displayed. Every tapestry is unique because so are His plans for us. Until it is complete, only God can see the final picture.