Telling Time: The Crying Season

“There is a time for everything . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4)

We’re working this week on learning to recognize the seasons God has lead us into – so we can live wisely during those seasons.

emb_350Nobody wants to live in a season of crying or mourning. Usually, that means something bad has happened – we lost the big game or got betrayed by a friend or watched a loved one die. But that season matters. In fact, Ecclesiastes 7 tells us it’s better to go to a funeral than a party because it reminds us again that this life isn’t permanent – and we’d better get ready for the one that is.

Many of us just try to go numb during the crying seasons and hope they go away quickly. But that’s a waste of the season God has lead us into. Instead, he wants us to turn to him for comfort and learn from him how to comfort others during their sad times. (See 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.)

The season for laughing and dancing will return. It always does, thank God! But it will be much, much sweeter if we have made the most of the crying season by using it to learn just how comforting the arms of our Father can be.

Think: How can a person turn to God for comfort during a season of sadness? Have you ever been comforted by God through another person who has experienced the same kind of loss you are going through?

Pray: Ask God to help you to turn to him for comfort during seasons of sadness and to include him in your times of laughing and dancing.

Do: Read Romans 12:15 and think about what you can do to participate with others in their sad and happy seasons.