Ecclesiastes 3:1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (KJV)
One definition of a cycle is a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. The best example of a cycle that I can think of, is the seasons we experience. Our seasons change on a quarterly cycle, and they change with the passing of time whether we want them to or not. Another cycle that we are currently experiencing or anticipating is the arrival of the Cicadas. This is a seventeen-year cycle in the making, and many of us are dreading their arrival and eagerly wait for their demise. Unfortunately, there is nothing any of us can do to rush this process, we just have to adjust our lifestyles so that we have as little interaction with the pests as possible. We had seventeen years to prepare, so this should come as no surprise.
The bible gives us answers to many questions we have for events that happen in our lives. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1-8 basically tells us that there is a right time for everything…good and bad. We won’t always have good, and we won’t always have bad…but these things happen in seasons, or cycles. There are some things we can prepare for, like the Cicadas, and there are other things we can’t prepare for because we don’t know specifically when it will happen, like perhaps death.
The best that any of us can do, is prepare for the things we can, and for the unexpected things, go through them realizing that the circumstances won’t always be the way they are. Grace is when we get what we don’t deserve. None of us deserve grace; we could never do enough to earn it. God gives us grace to endure and to be rejuvenated so that we can handle whatever cycle we are in. We should also realize that everyone is not in the same cycle that we may be in. During those times, we have to extend grace to those who may not be where we are, or where we think they should be. The same grace we expect from others, is the same grace we need to extend.
