Dear Christian Friends:
Thanks to the Byrds, the words of Ecclesiastes 3 are familiar to much of the world:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven.”
Like it or not, fall is in season and summer is out of season!
Some sighed with regret that relaxing, fun-filled, less structured days are over.
Others, refreshed and invigorated, have eagerly plunged into the routines of fall again, excited about new challenges and enthusiastic about projects and activities and FOOTBALL GAMES that lie ahead.
Even though the ebb and flow of our lives change with the variation of the seasons, some things remain constant. One of those constants is God’s presence with us: “I will never leave you nor forsake you, “promises the Father. “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Another is God’s complete control over the seasons. We may become impatient, but God’s timing and His response are always right. “At an acceptable time, 0 God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love answer me in Your saving faithfulness,” (Psalm 69:13), we boldly pray, asking that God’s will be done.
Another constant is the privilege to be about our Father’s business. As long as we remain on earth, God has a purpose for us. The Apostle Paul exhorts us, “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching”
(2 Timothy 4:2).
He goes on to remind us that our words will not always be heeded. In every season, throughout the history of the Church, there have been scoffers and those who “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). We leave them to God; we are called simply to be “ready in season and out of season.”
In the love of Christ, Pastor Hartwig