Events and Activities of Life
Submitted by Frank Williams
February 27, 2025
Ec 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ec 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Opposing experiences are often so much a part of life. The joys and excitements of yesterday may turn into tears and mourning today. Faith can be found even in the midst of discouragement.
I was challenged when I read again of the trials William Carey faced when he went to India as a missionary. Health, finances, loss of a son, his wife breaking under the stresses—and for the longest, no conversions. A cloud of discouragement hung over him, but he remained faithful in spite of the trials he faced.
A young waitress weeps, and as tears spill down her cheeks, she tells how her husband had just asked her for a divorce. Someone else is met with the sad news of the tragic and unexpected loss of a loved ones.
T. DeWitt Talmage once wrote, "Help me explain a tear. A chemist will tell you that it is made up of salt and lime and other component parts; but he misses the chief ingredients—the acid of a soured life, the viperine sting of a bitter memory, the fragments of a broken heart. I will tell you what a tear is—it is agony in solution."
Perhaps you are in the midst of a tearful trial in your life. Grief may have settled upon your soul, and if not, you certainly remember times when it did. Grieving is a personal matter, similar to all, but different, too—for each in time and length. The season for one may be shorter or longer than for another.
But there are two extremes to remember to avoid. First, do not allow the season of grief and weeping to be prolonged beyond its time. Let the LORD bring you out of it in His time. Secondly, do not shortchange this season by avoiding, ignoring, or denying it. Just take it as it comes and trust the LORD for strength to endure. He will go with you through it, but He will also bring you out of it.
Our part is to be cooperative with the LORD by submitting to Him and His purpose. His goal is to grow us and to conform us into the likeness of our blessed Saviour. He is able to take the worst “things”---and to work them together for our good and His glory. (Rom 8:28)
Consider – Rest assured—there is recovery and healing from the greatest of trials.
