Focus Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
Not too long ago I attended the home-going service of a family friend. The service celebrated a man who was over 90 years old and had lived a fruitful life. When people were asked to make remarks, one of his daughters recalled that her dad said he was satisfied with his life and had no regrets. This man had been a prominent figure in many circles throughout his long life. He had been in a position to make weighty decisions. He had seen both joys and sorrows. He was human, so he had made more than a few mistakes in his life. Yet at the end of his days, he reported that he had no regrets. How does one do that? How does one live a full life and have no regrets at the end of it? I think today’s scripture might hold the thread of an answer.
I believe we live our lives in movements, similar to those orchestrated in a symphony. There’s a little concordance, a little dissonance, some major chords, and some minor ones. Harmony and disharmony mix, with variations in rhythm and movement that make the music happy, sad, or soul-stirring. To everything there is music and a rhythm for every purpose under heaven—a time to love, a time to hate, a time to mourn, and a time to heal. When the end of the song has been reached, if it has been masterfully composed, everything is resolved and we have no regrets, for the whole experience has been greater than the sum of its parts.
The composition representing life is so rich and complex, so intricate and so full, the whole is truly greater than the sum of its various rhythms and movements. And when all is said and done, in spite of, or maybe even because of, all that has happened in my life, I will be able to reach the end of that great symphony that was composed by God, the Masterful Maker of the Music, and say with confidence I have no regrets. Praise God! All has been resolved. And I have no regrets.
Prayer
Almighty God, you are the Author of all Seasons and the Composer of this symphony called life. You orchestrate the rhythms of time by your Spirit and bring the movements of my life to full and rich resolution. Thank you! Amen.
From Reflective Renewal: Grace at the Crossroads
