A Time and Place for Everything
by Bethany Conrad
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1, KJV).
Blink. Blink. Blink.
I stared at my computer’s cursor, wishing I had more energy, time, or thoughts to write. I wanted to make progress on my current project, but my mind blanked and shifted focus to the pile of dishes in the sink, my upcoming assignments, and drama at work.
I never had to deal with this before, not even during my busy high school years.
Every season brings a new challenge, and each gauntlet interferes with my ability to write. It’s annoying and, especially during the dark winter months, a bit depressing.
Solomon faced his share of saddening circumstances and is largely credited with writing Ecclesiastes, the book of depressing wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 1, Solomon refers to himself as the Teacher and vacillates between wisdom and foolishness. He acclaims wisdom’s greatness but warns that it makes your life depressing because you see misfortune coming for other people. In Ecclesiastes 2, he debates poetically whether it is better to enjoy all the world’s pleasures or deny yourself. He concludes that both practices make you miserable.
Everything, apparently, makes you miserable.
But then in Ecclesiastes 3, the advice shifts. The Teacher uses poetry to teach his lesson, gliding between the different seasons of life. He reminds us there are times to mourn, dance, love, and hate, bringing the entire discussion of how life truly works into focus.
Life doesn’t tend to progress through the seasons in the ways we prefer. Sometimes we want to write, but there’s a dinner to cook or a job to complete. Sometimes writer’s block steals our ideas and time.
Yet God reminds us continually that for every interrupted workflow, every lazy day, every page left blank for another writing session, he is there in the midst of our struggles. In all seasons of life, even those filled with treacherous challenges, he is there to lead, guide, and encourage us whether our writing is flowing or stalled.
For every season there is a reason and a loving God who is ready to provide us a helping hand.
Help us, God, to be patient in the seasons where it seems we can get nothing done. Help us to patiently wait as we lean on you. Amen.
Bethany Conrad grew up on the mission field in Hong Kong, China, where she fell in love with reading and writing. When not hoarding books of all shapes and sizes, she is honing her writing as she finishes her undergraduate.
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