Life
An interesting thing happened last week. I want to take a moment and point it out to you because you may not have noticed.
Last week, right here on planet Earth, the world did not end.
That’s interesting because everywhere you look there is somebody who wants to tell you that it's about to. First off, we are in the midst of a pandemic unlike anything any of us has seen in our lifetimes. On top of that, whatever else you care about in this world, there is somebody out there who is willing to be your doomsday prophet. If you’re into politics, then the world is going to end if the bad guy wins. If you’re into the economy, then boy has it crashed. If you are into the weather, then every time the sun shines we sure do need some rain.
There is an old children’s story that features a character named Chicken Little. Chicken Little’s job in life was to run around to everybody he could find and announce to the world that the sky is falling! Well let me tell you, if Chicken Little were real, he would be the most famous chicken in the world. He would have his own 24-hour news network and a billion followers on Twitter.
Let's all take a deep breath and step out of the crazy for a second while I tell you a story.
Back in the day there was a man named Solomon. He was super-rich and super-powerful, but he also had the weight of the world on his shoulders. So he tried out every pleasure and escape that the world had to offer. Along the way he saw all of the good and terrible things that seem to always be happening somewhere to somebody. At the end of it all, God showed him a profound truth about life and inspired Solomon to write the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible so that we could all know the truth as well. In Chapter Three of the Book of Ecclesiastes, we read:
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 kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
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,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
If you're looking for some truth about life today, here's some: It's gonna happen. It's gonna be bigger than you. And you're either gonna trust God in the midst of it, or you’re not. Somewhere right now, the sky is falling. And somewhere else, it's rising back up. If the sky is falling on you, it's not your job to hold it up. And if the sky is rising around you, it's not your job to help it. Your job is to trust God and hang on.
You should do both of those things because life is a wild ride.
