I am experiencing that odd feeling you get sometimes when it seems like the world has turned upside down. I moved to Texas in 1970 as a first grade kid. The Texas Rangers baseball team came into existence in 1972 and I became a passionate fan, being a kid who absolutely loved everything about the game of baseball.
But my Texas Rangers never really loved me in return. Season after season they played mediocre to poor baseball, decade after decade, only occasionally flirting with decent performance. Of course, I have lived in North Carolina for 12 years now, but from a distance I am absolutely loving the Ranger’s new found success. No World Series’ appearances for 38 years, and now two in a row. The other day, as Nelson Cruz was unleashing his #BooMstick yet again on the Tigers, I even heard the baseball announcer refer to the Rangers as the new and burgeoning baseball dynasty in MLB. Imagine that, the agonizingly hapless Rangers of the last four decades.
When I heard that comment, my mind immediately went to Ecclesiastes 3. You know the familiar words, “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, and etc…” Everyone who reads this little blog is in a “season” of some sort or another. Maybe you are in a dry and barren season… unemployment or under-employment, relationship troubles, poor health. I think Solomon’s wisdom is gently reminding you to be strong and hold on… things will turn. If you are in a season of plenty, then enjoy every moment of it, but be wise and discerning, because just like the season of drought, the season of plenty is fleeting.
My favorite part of Ecclesiastes 3 has always been verse 11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time…” Can the season of drought really be a beautiful thing? Much like for the frustrated baseball fan… it is sometimes hard to figure out how anything good comes from loss. I think the key is the next phrase of verse 11, “He has also set eternity into the hearts of men…” Among other things, I think that means that among all of his creation, God has uniquely given humanity the capacity to see beyond the moment, beyond the current “season” of life. Something great is on the way… just around the corner in fact! Don’t believe me? Just check out my Rangers!
You Shall Know the Truth!
J Beckett