A Time For Everything

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

As I sit here with my handy walker next to me and my braced leg elevated to keep down the swelling in my knee, I think about all of my writer friends, acquaintances, and all the potential friends I had hoped to meet who are gathering in writers conferences around the country. I am tempted to feel sorry for myself because I was planning on attending a writer’s conference. Yet circumstances changed all of that.

I don’t pretend to understand why my knee surgery of a year ago became infected, but I am forced to deal with all the ramifications: Two surgeries this summer, lots of pain, and multiple physical therapy sessions. Then there’s that nagging thought: We had just paid off all of last year’s medical bills.

I must confess, though, that accepting the Lord’s “activity under heaven” that He wants me to do can be both humbling and, at times, depressing. But He has had some heart-to-heart discussions with my spirit concerning my will vs. His. His will trumps every time. (And no, this is definitely not a political statement…)

Scripture clearly tells us that “there is a time for everything,” and this summer is not my time. It is my time to rest in Him and perhaps—on a day when I am clear-headed with fewer pain pills in my system—I can spend some quality time researching and writing.

Why, I cry out to the Lord? And what can possibly be the benefit of any of this? Again, I don’t have clear answers. But occasionally, glimmers of heavenly light shine upon the faces of other patients who I meet at the infusion center where I go daily for my IV antibiotics. It gives me perspective about the patients who have fear-filled eyes who aren’t just dealing with infection, but are facing cancer.

God sees the bigger picture.

I know that no experience is wasted in God’s Kingdom, nor are there any mistakes wrought by the hand of the Creator. So when I think about the changes in my plans for this summer, I pray that I will remember to ask God how He wants to use me in His plan.

Have the dreams for your writing schedule taken an unexpected diversion from your well-plotted strategy? Maybe you are attending a writer’s conference but your hoped-for meeting with an editor or agent didn’t go as you imagined. Rather than feeling crushed and defeated, ask God what His strategy is in this season for your activity under heaven. It may not fulfill your dreams for this moment, but it will undoubtedly fulfill God’s agenda for you. And His timing is always perfect.

“What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:9-11 NIV

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