The question of "what next?" was impressed on my heart after my last paper at the University of Ghana and I have spent a lot of time pondering over it. 4 years of stress, madness and chaos, and just like that. That's all? I’m done? All this for a paper? The more I reflected though, the more Ecclesiastes 3:11 came to mind.
Eccl.3.11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (NIV)
But what does this verse even mean? What was the writer of this verse trying to communicate? Let's explore!
The verses that precede Eccl 3:11 take a look at times and seasons (Eccl 3: 1-8). They talk about how there is a there's time for everything under the sun. A time to sow and to reap, to kill and to heal, to mourn and to dance, to scatter and to gather, to search and to give up, and more.
This verse in particular tries to contextualize the seasonal happenings and make us see things in the grand scheme of things. That although things in our lives happen within the context of a time, they fit into the Lord's grand purpose. And so we may not understand what's happening at the moment we just have the assurance that everything happens, exactly when it should happen. Because it is according to God’s plan.
We may not see or understand it, but it is etched in our hearts - slowly guiding us through purpose and the will of God. Because why not? He does all things for his glory.
In lots of ways, I used to regret not having much fun in school. I was your typical nerd who had a few friends and hardly partied. I was always behind books, at church or glued to my PC. And every inch of me wanted to advise students in the lower levels to have lots of fun because school can seem like vanity and get really overwhelming sometimes.
But come to think of it. The Lord makes all things beautiful in HIS time. It is not my place to disrupt what God is doing in their lives at this point. They just have to go through the process, and let God do what he wants with them.
In the end, He'd make all things beautiful in HIS time.
Good morning Ghana!
