Staying in the here and now can be a challenge for a lot of us, especially when our To Do lists seem more plentiful than the hours of the day. It is hard to make time for the people who matter in our lives, let alone carve out time to work on our faith.

The writer of Ecclesiastes 3 understood that reality. So often we think that ancient people had a more simple life than we do, but they really didn’t. They had all the relationship and work struggles that we have with fewer tools or the technology that punctuates our modern lives. They rushed to get everything done too.

For everything there is a season.

We can’t do everything all at once, no matter how good we are at staying focused or how much we buy into the myth of multitasking. That’s why it is so important to really hear the words of wisdom written thousands of years ago.

Life comes to us in waves and patterns. We can only plant when the soil is fertile, be that physically or metaphorically. We can only harvest with there is maturity. We mourn when the time comes, but we laugh at other times.

We have to allow ourselves to trust that everything comes in its own time and not rush something before it is ready.

Reevaluate your To Do list. Does everything need to be done now, or might a later time be better? Are the things on that list important to others or are they on that list because you think they need to be there? What can be tasked to others? What really doesn’t matter and can be let go of altogether?

There is a time to keep and a time to throw away. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. And there is a time to dance.