What time is it?

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up 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;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

What time is it for you today? Instead of looking at your watch, take a look again at the times above. Maybe it is your time to be silent, to listen to the others around you to hear what they have to say. Or maybe it is your time to speak up because you’ve been quiet for too long. Maybe today is your day to weep for what’s been lost. If so weep, don’t rush past this moment in your life because the time to laugh will come, but maybe not just yet. Maybe it is your time to embrace your friends and family, to let them know that you love them and care about them. Or perhaps it is your turn to refrain from embracing, so that you can rediscover your own personal value and worth apart from others.

Whatever time it is for you today, I pray that you will live in that moment while you need to, but not a moment more. If time has stood still for you, if you have found yourself stuck in a moment in your past, maybe today is the day you lift up your eyes to realise that that time has past and a new time is waiting for you today - because there is a time for everything, and everything has its time.