This week we look at the third principle of Enterprise Symbiosis: For everything there is a season. This is one of two of the principles taken
directly from the scriptures. This of course being Ecclesiastes 3:1a; with the
descriptions of some of the seasons allotted to man following through verse
eight.
To everything there is a season, A time for
every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
If we would understand fully and practice this wisdom from this great wisdom
literature, how much easier our times and our lives would be.
Thinking about these words a few weeks ago, I realized that nowhere in these
verses are the words: A time to wait, or a time
to rest. In the King James version waiting and its derivatives
appear about 160 times. Rest, close to 300 not separating the different meaning
like rest (relax) and rest (the others). Perhaps the author of Ecclesiastes was
too busy with the many details of life to rest in, or wait on the Lord. If that
is indeed the case, then this is truly wisdom of man, and not really wisdom of
eternal merit. Or to put it another way, perhaps it is not really a summary of
wise wisdom teaching, but more a specific statement of wisdom by the author for
one specific purpose, or period.
I bring all this up because about the same time as I was thinking about
"no time of waiting" that I read something by Charles Spurgeon
stating something to the effect, that one of the greatest privileges that God
gives his followers is to wait on Him. Of the many wait passages referenced
above, a great deal of them relate to waiting on the Lord. Have we really ever
thought of waiting as an asset? To be honest, for the most part that whole
concept is very foreign to me. In fact, I thought about just how long some
things take, just for the paper work. We can buy a car in a matter of minutes.
We can buy a house in a few days. But the real pitsy things seem to drag on,
and on, and on. I can remember that recent court case relating to a car
accident over three years prior. We won, but the waiting was really
frustrating. And I also remember when the divorce papers were filed, after all
the trying and other emotional strain, it took months for the papers to be
taken care of. The emotional stress was bad enough, but then the waiting, not
to be able to start again, because everything was just not finished, even
though it was.
In the concept of Enterprise Symbiosis and also in the section from Ecclesiastes,
we know: A time to plant, and a time to pluck
what is planted (or harvest
in other translations). As we have said in earlier messages, "The only crop you can raise in a week is
sprouts!" To plant a tree seed and raise it to a harvestible tree,
takes a lifetime. In Eastern Washington they plant winter wheat in the fall
expecting a harvest the next summer. You plant fruit trees and you may get a
few apples in a couple of years, but the real harvest may take more than five.
A time to plant, and a time to harvest, leaves out most of the total elapsed,
and elapsing time. The time to grow!
Now when I thought of that ,what a discouraging thought that was! Could it
be that all this time we are waiting for stuff to happen is really when we are
doing the most growing. How depressing that is. How can the most difficult
thing for me be the most beneficial. I think of when I am planting, plucking,
killing, healing, throwing away, on and on, I am being most productive. But if
the plants are right then the growing takes place in the waiting period. Now if
I could just develop some principle on how to manage this time for growing (by
waiting), I really would have it made in the shade. But then of course I would
have no time to rest and enjoy the shade of that old Quercus trifecta and
observe the branches, how some seem to produce good fruit and some produce,
lots of green leaves, but no fruit at all, and how some branches seem barely
alive, but you know that they still are part of a living tree.
So where does that leave us? It is God
that sets the season of earth and the seasons of life. What good does it do for
the created to question the wisdom of the Creator. For there is some very wise
eternal wisdom that closes the Book of Ecclesiastes:
Of making of many books there is no end, and
much study is wearisome to the flesh.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.
For God will bring every work into judgement ,
Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:12a-14)
For it is only God, who is able to judge what good or evil we do in the
season of waiting, the season of real growth.
As of yet we do not have the new internet
access. According to the installer that arrived from ATT@home I will have to
upgrade my CPU in order to utilize their service, not just my software. Of the
four previous people that I talked to, no one else seemed to mention this
little detail. Well as I told the installer, on the way out the door that what
this installation was supposed to be, is a first step toward that end. But as
the door closed behind him I don't think, he heard the comment, that "I
will call you back, when pigs fly!" At one time I would have used the term
"When hell freezes over!" But that is not good theology for the Lake
of fire is something that must be reserved for those in organizations which
abuse there employees, making them take the heat for what very well may be a
complex problem. If certain managers in ATT@home were responsible enough to
make and speak truthfully in there advertising and other literature, it would
have saved me and their installer a great deal of time and frustration.
Other than looking for probably a DSL hook up to
the internet (using my current CPU) things continue to be busy. In the
upgrading of the operating system a few names on this mailing list were lost,
in ways that I can only begin to imagine, so this one was put together from
memory and my total email address book, the only problem being some who were
only on this mailing list and not in the main address book.
I'm still looking toward going on a scouting mission to Eastern Washington
for a new headquarters, probably late next week as it looks as a window of time
can be secured. Please pray for that time if the Lord so wills.