PRIORITIZNG MY FATHER’S HOUSE: THERE IS A TIME FOR SOWING & PRUNING (Monday)

Jul 2, 2022
3 min read

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 9-14

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

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

I find there is not only a time for everything, but I notice there is time for everything God wants me to do. If God is my teacher, I will learn these lessons sooner or later. I hope it’s sooner, otherwise I’ll need to retake the course and the test all over again. Solomon, who wrote this book, equates being born with planting. For me, this means new life. In order to have new life, someone had to sow. He also equates a time to die with a time to uproot, also known as plucking or pruning. For me, this means cutting back to create room for new growth. In order to have new growth, someone had to prune. That “someone” is none other than God. I see other people pruning me all the time. They are only doing what God told them to do; it comes in the form of rebuking, advising, and admonishing, but it’s pruning, nonetheless.

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS: Why does God sow and prune my life? He wants to see me grow. For me, it is toilsome; I can’t see I’m gaining anything while He’s at work. In fact, it appears at first glance to be a burden. But that’s not so. After the sowing and pruning, there is a testing and refining process that occurs. I can look back on these times in my life and see exactly what God was up to—He wanted to further shape my life, so I will revere Him more. I thought I was in control of my life, but that was a fallacy—once I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I handed control to Him, whether I realized it or not. Thank God for that!

All I want out of life is to have purpose: to be happy and find satisfaction in the midst of my toil. I think I’m doing this, but then distractions come and get in the way. People don’t react the way I want them to. Things go wrong. Relationships crumble, and things are not just right in the picture-perfect world I imagined.

Lord, help me to learn You don’t create turmoil; You create order. Sin creeps into my life and the lives of those around me, and sin creates turmoil. Because of that sin, You need to prune— cut away the dead branches and create room for spiritual growth. Please hold me still while You prune and plant new seeds.

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman