I watched out the window as a bitter wind blew the last of the leaves off my favorite crabapple trees. They tumbled away in sad auburn splendor. They crinkled and crunched down the street like a forced applause from hands wanting more, from a solitary audience disappointed by the show’s abrupt untimely end. This season has been like that for me. Like a wild rush that expired too soon. Maybe it has for you too?
Do you sometimes feel like life is going by too fast? Like time won’t slow down no matter how hard you try to make it?
If you do, take a moment to consider Ecclesiastes 3:11. This verse describes how God has “put eternity into man’s heart” (ESV). He has put a desire for things to continue on even when time itself brings them to a close. The desire to ‘stop time’, after all, may be God’s way of reminding us this place isn’t our permanent home. That longing to stay and dwell in the face of inevitable change might just be God’s subtle encouragement not to put our hope too much in this world and its outcomes but in Him instead and His unchanging love for us.
So, the next time you have a moment where time takes from you and life just seems too short, let your disappointment point your eyes toward eternity. Then thank God that things here may change, but His unconditional love will not. Seasons may end, but no matter what, we will live on with Him. We will experience His loving embrace forever and ever.
