EquippedMama

For everything there is an appointed time,

and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:

² A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;

³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;

nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.

God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, 14. NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

It’s springtime in Texas and my husband’s raised gardens now boast heavily laden plants burgeoning under the weight of green tomatoes. In a few weeks the hot sun will ripen these little tomatoes and they will blush a beautiful red. Then the harvest. Yum!

The Word of God reminds us that everything has its time and season. The book of Ecclesiastes says that there is an “an appropriate time for every activity on earth.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 b). Unfortunately, as mamas it is often all to easy to wish that it was the appropriate time for something else! A crying baby makes us wish for school years, a difficult teen makes us wish for time of peace (and maybe an empty nest!) But these empty wishes remind us of our complete inability to change the time or season in which the Lord has placed us.

In a time of pandemic it is especially easy to wish that we could alter our time or season. As the news floods our minds with reasons to worry we long for an escape from danger- and we wish for a time of health and prosperity. However just as we have no control over the speed at which our plants blossom and ripen, so we cannot wish away our circumstances.

What, then, is a mother’s godly response to an unfavorable season?

Fear the Lord.

In contrast to our total lack of power or control God is sovereign. He is the one who sets the world in motion, and who controls our very life breath (Daniel 5:23).

If you are tempted to walk in fear or strive for control today, take a moment to thank the Lord for his establishment of times and seasons and his control over them all. Our God is a God of Power.

He changes times and seasons,

deposing some kings

and establishing others.

He gives wisdom to the wise;

he imparts knowledge to those with understanding;

²² he reveals deep and hidden things.

He knows what is in the darkness,

and light resides with him.

Daniel 2:21-22