EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV

Life is full of contrasts. We go over mountains, and we go through valleys. We celebrate over our successes, and we struggle through failures. We have wins and we have losses. In weather, there are four seasons. But in our lives, there are dozens of different seasons. And every season of life includes both good and bad times. Life is a combination of contrasting seasons.

All sunshine and no rain make a desert. If we're following God's will, if we're trying to live our lives according to the way God wants us to live, then we'll eventually see that these experiences can have purpose and value in our lives. We may think that the only time we’re in God's will is when we're at church or having a quiet time. We can be in God's will as we're cleaning out a closet. We can be in God's will as we're washing the car. We can be in God's will when we move to a new location or stay right where we are.

There's a time and season for everything, Ray Stevens sang a song called "Everything Is Beautiful" that included the lyric "Everything is beautiful in its own way." That's not exactly true. Everything is not beautiful. Cancer is not beautiful. Child abuse is not beautiful. War is not beautiful. This verse says it differently, "He has made everything beautiful in its time" That's very different from "everything is beautiful in its own way." Because the Bible is saying that God can take even the bad things and, in the proper season, turn them around and use them for good in the way He intends. God has painted time with changes.

The kaleidoscopic movement of innumerable processes will be seen in the end as "beautiful in its time." It may look a mess up close, just as putting our face too near a big painting will distort our view of it. Stepping back puts it in better perspective. One day we will step back, look at the finished canvas of life with the Artist by our side, and see it in all its beauty and completeness!!!

Father, thank You for this day and for enlightening us by Your Word to know the limitless potentials you've deposited within us. Lord, open the storehouses of Your abundant blessings and pour them out over us and our family today. Lord, we are determined to affect the world positively through this divine power at work in our Spirit. Lord, You created us to be an eternal being. This world is not our home. Though it is beautiful, it is full of sin. You have destined us to live in heaven with You

forever. Lord, use us to share Your mercy and grace with all we meet today.

Father, we love You. Amen.