1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
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.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NASB)

I’ve visited these words often lately. Not only are we all together moving from summer into fall, we see the world changing around us, in increasingly rapid cycles, it seems. Personally, I am facing a couple of major life season changes. One has been a “suddenly,” and another has been creeping up, slowly and steadily. It can be overwhelming and disorienting.

I looked up at the Lord recently and said, “I am lost, Lord!” He shot back, “No, you’re not. I know right where you are.”

Smile.

And a deep breath, breathing in rest and breathing out anxiety. I am so grateful for the comforting voice of the Lord. My shoulders have been sagging under the burden of the whole world’s troubles, and with a simple humorous line, He lifts it up and away, back where it belongs.

I’ve been here so many times, and so have you. That place where things are about to change and the knowledge of it looms, or have already changed, in a moment, and you are dealing with it all.

Change challenges us, even a change to something better. It stirs us out of our comfort and complacency. It forces us to confront anew the questions that live at the core of our being, that are connected to truth and trust.

When I said, “I am lost,” I was confessing that I had lost sight of the most important truth amid a swirl of noisy, worldly facts.

When the Spirit of the Lord said, “No, you’re not, I know right where you are,” He was reminding me that I am in Him, and He is in me. That is THE truth that governs all facts in the life of a child of God. This is His covenant promise to you in Jesus Christ.

Jesus, in reminding His frightened disciples about this in the midst of warning them He would be put to death in a few hours, said,

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

John 14:26-27 (NASB)

What would the Spirit bring to their remembrance later? Many things, but it would surely include what Jesus just said a few moments earlier:

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

John 14:18-20 (NASB)

What time is it? It is time to remember that your Father is the one who rules the universe. It is time to rest in confidence that nothing can separate you from His love. It is time to know that in His faithfulness, He is preparing a way through this season, a way that will be best understood and perceived by a heart at peace, not anxious. Because anxiety tends to make you want to go do something…. and muddle up the Lord’s better plans for you.

What time is it? It is time to know the God who lives with you and loves you. It is time to trust Him, and see what HE is up to in this season, Beloved.