Everything Beautiful

There are times when reading the Word that I have to pause and ponder, to Selah if you will. Times when I’m confronted with a potential contradiction between what I know is true, the Word of God, and the circumstances of life that threaten to contradict that truth.  I found myself in this space recently when I read Ecclesiastes 3:11.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.  

It’s the first part I struggle with more than the second.  I can easily accept that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. As believers, we accept and acknowledge that He is always working and moving on our behalf because He loves us, He is for us, He is a good father and we are his children. He who names Himself our Alpha and our Omega, the author and finisher of our faith surely is constantly working in the forefront and background of our lives. 

As believers, we know that He has put eternity in our hearts.  That internal longing consistently pulls us towards that which is good and right.  That deep internal knowing of that which should be, when compared to what is.  

It’s that He has made everything beautiful in its time where I can tend to get stuck.  Sometimes, when observing my own life or the lives of others with my limited vision and knowledge, with my humanity,  I struggle to understand how anything beautiful can come out of the current circumstances.  Suffering, sadness, shame, fear…they cloud my ability to see.  Maybe you can relate?  

Throughout the Bible, I read accounts of others who were perhaps confronted with this same issue. Believers who knew the God they served while facing seemingly impossible situations.  Hannah, David, Abraham are just a few who come to mind. 

Each time I read the details of what they faced and how God came through for them I’m reminded again that He is good, He is faithful, He does indeed make everything beautiful in its time…even when it sometimes takes a long time.  Looking back over my own life I cannot deny that He who is has never failed to be faithful.  Even the ugliest of situations that I didn’t think I’d survive have served to shape me and those I love in beautiful ways.  

A break amid the storm, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and choose to remember.  

To remember from where He has brought me. 

To remember where I would be without Him.  

To remember all He has brought me through.

Each time, sometimes several times a day, this enables me to move forward with a little more strength, a little more joy and a little more hope.  

Is there a situation in your life or the life of someone you care about in which you are struggling to believe that it could be made beautiful?  

Pause, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and remember.