As Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us, for all things in this life there is a season…
“2 A time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest; 3 A time to kill, a time to heal; a time to tear down, a time to build up; 4 A time to cry, a time to laugh; a time to mourn, a time to dance; 5 A time to scatter stones, a time to pile them up; a time for a warm embrace, a time for keeping your distance; 6 A time to search, a time to give up as lost; a time to keep, a time to throw out; 7 A time to tear apart, a time to bind together; a time to be quiet, a time to speak up; 8 A time to love, a time to hate; a time to go to war, a time to make peace.” (Ecc. 3:2-8, Voice)
God’s plan for our lives is very much based on balance; not necessarily that for each “bad” thing that happens to us that we’ll experience an equivalent “good” thing, but instead that throughout all the ups and downs in our lives He’ll be there to celebrate with us, guide us in times of uncertainty, or to draw us close and comfort us when the world we know comes crashing down. God’s balance for us is all about Grace and His unending pursuit of our hearts…
He… Is our balance.
This morning while driving in to work, Danny Gokey’s song “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again” started playing on the radio station I was listening to. As the song’s poignant message penetrated the barriers I’d put up lately, I felt God reminding me that through everything that’s happened this past year, He’d never left my side…
He was with me through that season, just as He was for the seasons before…
And He will be for the seasons to come…
And that It’s time to let my heart beat again. Thank you Father.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)
As I read and prayed on these words this morning, God reminded me of the depth of this fundamental truth; that when we embrace the true nature of the Love He freely offers and seek to share that Love in all that we do, we clear the way for God’s peace and joy to overwhelm all those things in our lives that pull us down.
“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” – James 1:17 (NLT)
When we allow our attitudes, our outlook, our words and our actions to be expressions of the many Blessings God places in our lives each and every day, we not only share His light with those around us but also find that our struggles and circumstances no longer define who we are.
As my mind wandered this morning Father, drifting along this past year’s erratic path and pondering the days ahead You spoke to my heart; a whispered phrase of things to be…
“Another Chance…” You promised.
And with that I realized Lord… Every day I wake with breath in my lungs You’ve granted me Another Chance…
“I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.” – Lamentations 3:20-23 (NLT)
Another Chance to recognize my mistakes…
And hopefully to learn from them.
Another Chance to receive Your gracious love…
And to share that love with others.
Another Chance to look with wonder at the Blessings all around me…
And Another Chance to worship; to lift my heart to You in gratefulness.
Another Chance to cast off the chains of my self-imposed guilt and failures and place them at Your feet…
And Another Chance to grow closer to You in the process.
Another Chance to read Your Word…
And know You more through each passage and verse.
Another Chance to gracefully accept the assistance of others when it’s offered…
And Another Chance to reach out to them in love as well.
Another Chance to strive for righteousness Lord…
Another Chance to draw closer to the man You desire me to become.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
