PRIORITIZING MY FATHER’S HOUSE: THERE IS A TIME FOR WAR & PEACE (Friday)

Jul 8, 2022
2 min read

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8, 18-22

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

There are things I look forward to, such as a time to love. I love the time I spend with the Lord, my family, close friends, and coworkers. This passage also shows there is a time to hate. What does that mean?

In the Psalms, I learn there are some things I should hate: I should hate wrongdoing (Psalm 5:5), idol-worshippers (31:6), sin (36:2), wickedness (45:7), and the works of those without faith (101:3). Psalm 97:10 states those who love the Lord hate evil. There indeed is a time to hate.

Just as nations declare war on values they detest, there is also a time for me to fight the war on sin. Sinful desires and temptations attack my life, and I have the ability to do something about it. I can’t, however, win this war in my own strength: I need the Lord to fight the war that rages within me.

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS: Just like the war on sin, there is also a time for peace. I desperately desire that time, but I need to do a few things to achieve it.

To receive a time of peace, I need to embrace eternity. Solomon describes it, the fate of human beings is like that of the animals. This body of mine will only last a certain number of years, and then it will die. God knows where my spirit will go after this; Jesus also assured me that I could know as well (John 3).

To receive a time of peace, I need to be content. There is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work. God blesses working environments, which bring satisfying relationships. I shouldn’t worry or get excited when things don’t go my way because God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Lord, please bless the work of my hands and make it fruitful and satisfying!

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman