A Time for Every Purpose (09/17/2025)

One of my favorite passages in the Hebrew Scriptures is Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. I think most of us know it; it begins, “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” The past seven days have been very full of important and meaningful moments and responsibilities and encounters and goodbyes. And yesterday in the midst of trying to work with others to offer a family grieving the hospitality of a meal with those who came to share their love and support, I realized one of my purposes was shifting.  

Yesterday, I found myself physically struggling several times to do the things I used to do with ease and energy. I watched as others took up the slack and filled the gap. And I realized with great sadness that it was time for me to let go. It is time for me step back, to still support in whatever ways I can, but not to organize and guide these essential events. They are too important; they deserve better than I can deliver.

Toward the end of the event, as the reality sunk in, I sat and watched. I recalled the moments in the past. I recalled those journeys I’d been part of. I recognized I would still be a part of future journeys, but it needed to be in a different capacity for the good of everyone including me. And I must admit sadness came over me. My heart wants to give but my body is telling me it’s insufficient to meet the needs. Age does that eventually.

After I left and came home, I went to my porch and sat with a large glass of iced tea, my emotions in a tangle and the LORD at my side, I realized how things had shifted, and I needed to admit it. I always say, “It’s all right until it isn’t.” Yesterday, I realized it isn’t any more, and I need to let go of the reins so another more capable can take them.  

And I thanked the LORD for the opportunity to serve in the capacity I have, for the energy and the freedom of time I’d been afforded in the past. I asked the LORD to raise another who will take the reins, organize the events, and coordinate the donations and volunteers. And finally, I asked the LORD to show me where He wants me now, in which capacity, because I know He isn’t asking me to do nothing, He’s simply telling me to let go of this “load” for the good of all.

And then I got up and started preparing for a dinner at my home with members of a grief support group I facilitate. And as I began to put things together, I could feel the sadness leaving. And I got it all over again. I still have “purpose,” it is just shifting.

Life is a journey, it is an adventure, it takes us places we never imagined, it connects us with others whom we wouldn’t have thought to choose but whom we can’t imagine life without now. Life in the LORD builds us up and strengthens us until we begin to lose our strength and our vigor and realize it is time to give the reins to a new generation. While we no longer are “steering,” we are still on the journey, with more to learn, more to give, more to become.

Life is a journey. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.