A Time for All Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 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.

My husband and I have spent the last few weeks basically in isolation, not wandering too far from the comfort of the couch. If you know us, this is not our usual routine. Yes, you guessed it. The Covid finally caught up with us. After 2 years of diligently sanitizing, praying for those affected, and keeping our distance when needed, we found ourselves, finally, in the same boat as so many others. First question that came to us was where in the world did we get this? We will never know. It hit from out of nowhere. But, we were blessed! Yes, you read that correctly. We were blessed. God knew about this time, season, even before we did.

With nothing but time on my hands, all I could think about was how much worse off we could be; how others had endured much worse, only to succumb to death and or they suffered in isolation alone. How sad is that? We were constantly being checked on by friends and family through text and phone calls. Food was being dropped off on the front porch. Even had a “door dash” delivery by friends. Offers to make grocery store runs and drug store runs were frequent. We were blessed. When things hit, we were able to see a doctor within 24 hours. After 10 days things had not changed much but our doctor took our word and sent in prescriptions. We were blessed. 24 hours in and we feel like new people. We were blessed.

Unfortunately, the feeling of rejuvenation did not last. Our season was not complete. Hubby seemed to be getting back to normal but I continued to run a low-grade fever and after 14 days, I went back to the doctor with a headache that had lasted 4 days. I just happened to take my blood pressure on the 3rd night and that’s when I discovered the cause of my headache. Who knew that high blood pressure was a side effect of Covid. In all of my reading and research I had not read this. Thankfully it only took about 24 hours to get rid of the headache. I am blessed that the doctor office saw me quickly, and friends had home remedies that helped me till meds kicked in. I was blessed that I didn’t have a heart attack or stroke. Yes, you can find blessings in some of the most unfortunate of circumstances.

The scripture at the top came to mind. God’s word is always a comfort in times of distress but it is also a reassurance that there is a season for everything. We may not know the reason for the season we find ourselves in but God does. It may have been an opportunity for us to just be together and support each other in our ailment or it may have been an opportunity for us to put ourselves in others’ shoes. Whatever the reason, we know we are blessed. We have had difficult times before but this gave a whole new meaning to the vows we made over 35 years ago: to love and support, for better or worse, in sickness and in health. All in God’s time! No matter the season or the circumstance God is right there. He may show himself in an unexpected phone call, a text that brightens your day, or a piece of good news shared by a friend. God is right there beside you every step of the way, no matter the season.

Now sing with me..."Praise God from whom all blessings flow…" Yep, that tune is gonna stick with you for a while. It's a season for singing.