In one week, our CCEF family experienced the birth of Anne Pettit’s second son on a Thursday, David Powlison’s death on a Friday, and Megan Krimmel’s wedding that Sunday. Our concern was that while we knew it was time to mourn, and we could do that effortlessly, would we also know it was time to rejoice and to dance?
Ecclesiastes lists times that seem to oppose one another: birth and death, silence and speaking out, waging war and seeking peace, and mourning and dancing. Each time has its season. But when Ecclesiastes draws in the ministry of Jesus the seasons overlap in that we participate in the life, the suffering, and the comfort of Jesus Christ. We can experience the weight of grief at the same time we experience the buoyancy of hope. One person can know both the sentence of death and the fullness of life.
The Lord can and does mix these experiences in himself during this era between his resurrection and his coming again. He mourns with those who mourn, rejoices with those who rejoice, warns those who wander from him, and brings judgment on evil. He enters into the life of each of his lambs,
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