Daily Devotionals

'Every Day Light' with Selwyn Hughes

Devotional: September 23rd

For Reading and Meditation:
     Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

Wouldn';t it be wonderful if we knew how to react properly to all of life's events? To do the right thing at the wrong time is almost as bad as not doing right. "What time is it?" we often ask. In regard to life's events, how often we wish we knew! Solomon follows up his poetic appraisal of time with a question: "What benefit do we get from time?" It might seem a blessing, but actually it is a burden. As he looks at the interesting cycles of time, he concludes that without God all is boring and futile. But here's a sentence that brushes aside futility: "He has made everything beautiful in its time." To look at time through mere human eyes alone is to see it as interesting but futile; to look at it through the lens of faith is to see a beautiful picture coming together under the hands of the Divine Artist. He takes our sorrows and turns them into symphonies; He takes our tears and turns them into telescopes; He takes our calamities and turns them into opportunities. If you could see through your troubles at this moment and catch sight of the beautiful picture God is painting in your life as He mixes the blacks and blues, the reds and crimsons with the whites of His purposes, you would never again shake your fist in His face and tell Him that your life is a mess. The timing of things may not be as you would like them to be but remember, He is making everything beautiful - in its time.

O God, save me from the demandingness that wants to change things simply because I see no point or purpose in them. Help me understand that You are working out all things beautifully. But in Your time, not mine. Amen.