By Reverend J. Loren Russell
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 NKJV
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance.”
When we experience significant losses, our lives are turned upside down! Some losses can be anticipated, like when children go away to school or move away. We can get ready for friends moving to another neighborhood or another state. We can even prepare for a change of jobs or a relocation. Then, there are those things that come unexpectedly, and leave us bewildered.
Whatever the loss, expected or not, it leaves a hole inside of us. We may feel alone, abandoned, or rejected! We begin to wonder if God cares about our pain and sorrow. We may get angry with God and sometimes doubt that He even exists. Some losses can be devastating, particularly when someone is removed from the walk of life.
Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, had a father (David) who lost his infant son (2 Samuel 12:18). He was broken. His grief was intense and he mourned bitterly yet he wrote some of the most beautiful, insightful, and spiritually uplifting poems found anywhere. For example:
• The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want – Psalms 23:1
• God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble – Psalms 46:1
Now, Solomon, whom the Bible declares to be the wisest man to ever live, and the younger brother of the infant that died, writes from a profound place of insight:
“To everything there is a season – – a time and purpose for everything. A time to be born and a time to die” (v. 2).
Then, verse 4 says, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” While we know about birth and death, the part that speaks of weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing is more difficult to understand.
Last week, Christian Amir, my 13-day old great grandnephew, died. It was heartbreaking and inconceivable. It was one of those losses that left the entire family bewildered. We wept and we mourned. Then, the Lord revealed His grace and His mercy. To live just 13 days is very difficult to make sense of, but the Lord revealed how blessed Christian Amir’s life was in those few days. In those 13 days, God had made him a millionaire with 1,290,000 seconds of life.
When the realization took hold of how we were forever blessed by this precious life, in our time of weeping, we laughed, and in our time of mourning, we danced. Christian Amir took those moments of life and made deposits of love into the hearts of his family. Our lives have been enriched forever. The Lord broke us down to build us up.
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell
Rev. J. Loren Russell is President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial Strategy & Consulting; an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist Churches in the Bronx; creator & host of “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook LIVE and author of Matters of Faith: The Book (eBook available at Smashwords).
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