#sam kee

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecc. 3:11). The honest person ends up scratching his head in bewilderment about life’s unexpected turns and surprises. But everything has a proper time. There is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (from Ecc. 3:2-8). Beauty comes from unpredictability, when life happens outside of our predictions and control. God has granted a time for everything that happens. He is the only on who is truly in control. He decides when it’s time for joy or mourning, weeping or dancing. Most often, these extremes happen when we least expect them to. They happen according to God’s timetable, not ours. That’s what makes them beautiful, indeed, ravishing. God places a thirst for the limitless—He places eternity in our hearts. We “cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end,” yet we continue to ask the big questions. “Why did this happen?” “How will this ever work out?” “What is my purpose?” We are thirsty to know the answers to these questions. God has rigged our minds and hearts to have a capacity for eternal things, yet our “tanks” are never full. He keeps us near-empty, so that we will persist in seeking Him. God let’s us know precisely what we are to do. He has determined the times, but we determine the beautiful response. When God says it’s time to dance, we must dance, as to the Lord. When God says it’s time to weep, we must weep, as to the Lord. To him belongs the times, but to us belong the expression of his sovereign call. That is why the Psalms, for instance, are filled with every emotive expression possible, from joy and celebration to weeping and anger, all in response to God’s sovereign control. The key to living with eternity planted in our hearts is following God’s lead on our lives. He is the Lead in the dance, both predictable and unpredictable, at the same time. We know what to expect, but are held in suspense at the same time. Our job is to follow, to follow wherever he leads, with the proper response to his leading, whether that means tears, laughter, anger, or embracing.