Showing posts with label Ecclesiastes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ecclesiastes. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

When The Sun Shines On Rain

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"...
"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, author The Secret Garden

What a beautiful picture Burnett paints with her words. Here in South Carolina, the tulips and daffodils have long since bloomed, and the hot days feel more like summer than spring. We finally got rain yesterday, and it was glorious!

Seems like we went from winter to summer overnight.

Do you ever feel time races past you? It certainly has felt that way this year for me. In February, I blogged live from The Cove as I attended a writers’ conference. The weekend was cathartic for me, rejuvenating my writing and reigniting my love for the creative process. The problem? Not enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want. I suppose that’s something most people feel, whether they’re creatively bent or not.

Even nature seems hurried when it rains and sun shines at the same time!

The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. Ecclesiastes 1:5-6 NIV 

As the days fly by, I try not to feel the pinch of fleeting time and carve out time for quiet. It’s in these moments that God meets us. And if you’re really quiet and still, He’ll share His plans for your life. Not in the hurriedness of our requests, but in the moments of reflection and openness, we hear Him. His compassions are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). He makes our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

So, do I really need to worry about not getting things accomplished? Or feel rushed to do more than I possibly can each day? No, and this has been an ongoing lesson for me that God probably wonders if I’ll ever learn completely.

In the scope of life, the undone doesn’t matter near as much as how we’ve lived or affected those God has placed in our lives.

Our only goal should be to hear these words one day: Well done, good and faithful servant. Matthew 25:23 

How do you find quiet moments with God? Do you have a favorite place or time of day that you spend with Him?

I’d love to join you in prayer, if you have a need. Please leave a comment or email me confidential requests.

God bless,
Laura
"Winter" me at The Cove J
© Laura Hodges Poole

“Background Sun Indicates Raining” image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
“Bluebell Woods” image courtesy of Rob Wiltshire/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Value of Bad


Life's mishaps
“Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.”~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you a good learner? I wonder sometimes if I am. I often repeat mistakes before I learn from them. I trust and extend goodwill, despite being burned in the past from those I’ve trusted. I won’t say it hasn’t made me more guarded, though, because it has.

Embracing bad times as valuable means a willingness to walk through a trial instead of asking God to remove it. Tough one, huh?

So maybe the better question is: Am I a willing learner?

A heart well prepared for adversity in bad times hopes, and in good times fears for a change in fortune.~Horace, Roman poet

How do we prepare for adversity? For a Christian, that means staying rooted in God’s Word and at His feet in prayer. If we do that, we need not fear a “change in fortune.”

When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future. Ecclesiastes 7:14

Would it help us to prepare for the bad, if we knew our future? Probably not. As Horace observed, it would fuel our fears and rob us of happiness during good times. God’s plan is always better than ours. The ebb and flow of good and bad is something He has deemed worthy for us to experience to grow deeper in our relationship with Him.

Are you ready to embrace adversity as an opportunity for growth?


Do you have a prayer need? I’d love to pray for you. Please share in the comments section below or e-mail me confidential requests.

Betty asks for prayer for her mother-in-law who recently lost her husband to Alzheimer’s. She’s experiencing her own health issues now including memory problems and fibromyalgia. Please pray for a return to good health and wisdom for the family as they seek answers. 
The permanent prayer list is at the top of this blog, as well as Sgt. Jesse McCart’s updates. Would you take a moment to lift up these folks in prayer? Thanks.J 

Shalom,
Laura

©Laura Hodges Poole

Photo courtesy of Microsoft.com free clip art