The Good in the Bad

We’ve all heard the phrase is a time and a place for everything. I mean this concept lead the Byrds to record their hit song Turn, Turn, Turn in 1965. Not all things are appropriate at all times. What we say, do, and how we react should very much be dictated by the setting we are in. And, we all know folks who say or do things at the wrong time which makes their actions and or what they say vastly inappropriate.

The origin of this concept is Biblical wisdom given to us by Solomon.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us there is a time for everything and everything has its own time. There’s a time to celebrate and mourn. A time for peace and a time for war. A time for laughing and a time for crying. He provides an extensive but not exhaustive list. We can take away two big points from this portion of his wisdom writings.

The first point he is making is that we must learn to accept this reality – that sometimes life will be great and fun and happy and then sometimes life will be hard and sad and chaotic. We’ve got to learn to find the good in both settings because God has made everything beautiful. There is value in every experience. We’ve got to accept that and learn to look for the value in both the good and bad times.

The second point is we’ve got to understand how to react in all settings. What we say and do very much should be guided by the setting we find ourselves in. Sometimes it is appropriate to hold your tongue and other times it is needed for you to speak hard truths. Sometimes it is appropriate to celebrate with others but sometimes we should be mourning for or with them. We have to learn how to act in all situations.

Ultimately, God wants us to see the value in all situations. He has created and allowed for all this moments in our lives to happen so we can to learn from them and if we act appropriately – help others see God living in our lives no matter the situation.

God makes everything beautiful in His time. You can either be part of that process or become an obstacle in that process. We can either learn for all situations or not but that doesn’t change the reality that there is something God wants us to learn in both the good and bad times.