WE’RE TO THE J’S!!!!! J By the time we get to the end of the J’s we’ll be over halfway through the Bible! Isn’t that exciting!?! I think it is anyway. And hey, if you can’t celebrate the little victories then you’re hardly ever celebrating, and that’s no fun.
I’m just in a celebrating mood today! J And here’s why.
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13), and “I know that God can do all things, and that no purpose of His can be thwarted” (Job 42:2), however, it is ONLY through Christ who has given me the strength to do all things. Trust me, I’ve tried to work outside of Him, it never works!
Yesterday my verse of the day was from Isaiah 65:22b-23a “My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain”. This verse gave me such tremendous comfort that although I’ve worked long hard hours at this computer tapping away, not a single one of them has been in vain. That’s comforting!
But God had more in store for me. As I read this verse from Isaiah there was another verse that kept tugging at the corners of my mind, begging for a bit of attention. Like a hungry child in search of a before dinner snack, it just wouldn’t go away until I finally caved and flipped my Bible open to Ecclesiastes 3. There I found one of God’s all time favorite passages for my life:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
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.
What gain has the worker for his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before Him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” (verses 1-15)
There is so much meat in this passage I would love to dig deep into it, but time and space won’t allow me to today. However, if you’re interested, my book Dandelion Season was inspired by this passage.
“I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.”
Our work is a gift from God! And while it certainly may not seem like that at times, it always is. And God has promised us that the work of our hands is not in vain. We don’t do it for nothing, it all has a purpose and that purpose isn’t always our purpose. Sometimes, most of the time, it’s His.
And speaking of which, God is reminding me that this is HIS blog and not mine. That I’m supposed to be sharing His messages and not mine. So while I have several index cards filled with scriptures and huge nuggets of golden revelation, my time is up and He’s the boss. So if you want to hear more, pray that He will let me share them with you tomorrow!!! Because I really really want to!!! I love you all so dearly, God bless you my friends!
Tamar Knochel 