many seasons, many people

2 Corinthians 3 16- 18

16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

Genesis 40: 14

14 But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison.

These are very inspiring passages, the first two are of hope and encouragement, the last is more of a reminder. What we must remember is that when that veil is taken away it is not replaced with blinders. Once we turn to the Lord we cannot forget the people along the way. The people who helped us turn to the Lord, the people who first offered the hope that is Jesus Christ. Most of all we cannot forget the people that are still struggling along the path themselves.

People enter and pass through our lives each day. Some offer hope, some take things from us, and some leave things that we can use, all to often those people are forgotten as soon as they leave. We might remember that person who stops by and tears us down, yet the person that has held out hope for us is often forgotten. The problem lies in the situation getting better, and us being human. Once we are restored form a hardship, how we got out of the situation tends to fade if we let it. Most people will try to block the whole incident out of their mind all together, so along with the pain, any memory of one who helped gets locked away as well.

This is one of the many differences between a common person and a righteous person. The righteous person does not forget those who have helped. They don’t forget because they were never concerned with the hardship in the first place. No matter where we find ourselves we should remember that we are there for some reason, it is not a chance happening when it comes to life. There is always something to learn, something to do, someone to help. The idea is to not focus on the hardship, but focus on the opportunity. The Lord is at work in each of us, the wonders that we see will be in direct proportion to how much control we give him over our lives. The righteous person works for the Lord, the common man works for himself. The righteous man does not forget those who have helped because he was always more concerned with the Lords plan (which involves all of us) instead of just his plan for himself. The common man forgets because it is only his selfish plan that he is trying to advance. May we all work to be the righteous, not the common.

Take a look at Joseph in chapter 40. Joseph is assigned to the Pharos imprisoned servants, as an assistant. I believe it is no coincidence that a man of God finds him self in service to others. The key thing here is that Joseph is not concerned with his station in life. While most would grumble and lament about how they should not be there, or withdraw and shut down when faced with being wrongly accused, Joseph just goes to work. Not only does he take care of his duties, he actually shows concern for others. He takes time to put forth the effort to get involved in helping others. Joseph is not concerned with his surroundings, or his situation, he knows that it is only temporary. This is the model that we should try and follow. We all go through different seasons, and you can rest assured the season always changes. If you find yourself in trying times, get busy doing the Lord’s work. There is something to be accomplished where you are at right now in life, you can’t find it, if you are self absorbed in the situation. You have to recognize it as a season that will pass, Remember that in good times and bad the Lord’s work still needs to be done. We cannot follow the Lord’s path for us into the next season, if we stop to lament in the season we are in now.

Peace,
Rev. Thetford