There’s a funny thing that happens when you work in ministry: the people you serve often expect to receive something from you without realizing how much they give back. The fact of the matter is anyone who studies God’s word and makes an effort to learn it has a promise: His word will not return void. You don’t need to be a pastor, a missionary, or in full-time ministry to be used by God to speak to others. You simply have to study his Word and share it with others. Yes, even if you are afraid you might share it imperfectly. Here is a perfect example:
My husband Eli and I have been sharing with a group of new believers over the last year. We’ve studied the book of Acts with them and learned how the first church was formed. It’s been a great time of learning and growing together. But during that time they have also read other passages on their own time. Passages that we don’t choose for them, but that for one reason or another (and probably by some leading of the Holy Spirit), they find a book or a chapter they like and they study it. On our most recent trip to visit with them, we were chatting about the book of Leviticus, about war and peace, and all sorts of things, when at one point our friend began quoting Ecclesiastes 3. I’m sure you have heard the passage, the one that says ‘For everything, there is a season…’. It had been on his mind, and he wanted to share it with us.
A couple of days later we were gathered together in a small group, hosting our weekly Bible study. Our study was on giving Biblically. But somewhere along the way we touched on another topic. And one of the women present began quoting Ecclesiastes 3. ‘For everything, there is a season…’.
It might seem like a coincidence, but let me tell you the next part. In both of these conversations we shared that as a couple, we are moving into a new season of life. We didn’t use those exact words, but we let our dear brothers and sisters know that we would be leaving their home and Oaxaca for an indefinite amount of time. Their response was to pray for our next season. To pray for the health problems that have affected me deeply, for the plans we have for the future, and for what it means for our small group of believers that Eli and I are leaving.
I’m not ready to let the floodgates open yet, but it’s safe to say a couple of small tears were shed by all as we prayed together that evening. It didn’t surprise me one bit that they were ministering to me with God’s Word. It did surprise me that Ecclesiastes 3 was the passage they used to do it, without fully knowing how appropriate it was.
A few days later I found myself back in Oaxaca city. Anxiety over moving and job-searching was setting in big time. My favorite author had announced a couple of months earlier that she was releasing a new book in March. (It’s Emily P. Freeman in case you didn’t know, and you should pre-order her book if you haven’t!) I had been holding off on pre-ordering for financial reasons. But she announced some special freebies that you’d get if you pre-ordered and I knew I was going to buy the book eventually, so why not now? When my gifts arrived they came in the form of a journal to help you work through transitions and an audio set of blessings for hellos and goodbyes. These couldn’t have come at a better time for me, so you best bet I immediately opened both. And guess what? Emily opens her blessings with- you guessed it- a reading of Ecclesiastes 3.
I’m still not ready for the floodgates to open. But you better believe that a few small tears were shed as I listened to Emily’s voice reading ‘For everything there is a season…’.
Sometimes God speaks to us through His Word as we have our quiet time, listen to a sermon, or search Google for a Bible passage about anxiety. Other times we feel a little off and we read what we can not knowing what God wants to say to us. Until he speaks to us with literal, audible words. Until he uses the voice of our brothers and sisters who are just growing, just learning. When he speaks to us using a well-established author or teacher who happens to speak into our lives as though they were our dearest friend and not a person we’ve never met.
And sometimes what he speaks to us is nothing new or profound. It’s a very common, often-quoted passage. But isn’t it comforting to think that in a moment of transition and change, at a time when everything feels new and unknown, he speaks in the familiar?
Similarly, I have nothing new or profound to say to you now about Ecclesiastes 3. But I invite you to share with me this old, familiar passage. Because it’s always good to remember that whatever thing you’re leaving, for everything there is a season.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
