A reason to ruminate...

As my 35th birthday quickly approaches-my mind cannot deny the desire to reflect. Last night in our Attributes of God class, we learned about how God is before time and after time, He encompasses ALL time because time itself, does not apply to Him. What a concept to try to grasp with our small minds?! I don't consider myself a busy body-I actually naturally repel busyness, it's just how I am. I don't like to rush and have so much going on that I can't pause throughout my day and see God in all of the details. 

Pausing to look back over my 35 years of existence I can't help but be moved to tears. Most of them, now tears of joy. To remember what God's gracious hands have carried me(us) through! My past seems like a lifetime away today. Yet in my past there was always an aspect of the present and of the future. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 we accept that "Everything has it's time."

But what stands out today as I read Ecclesiastes 3 are verses 14-15:

Every moment that I have lived and will live He knows and Has known-always! As I sit here and reflect on all the times of gain and all the times of loss the accompanying joy and mourning seem to be above the restraint of time as well. I am always consumed with joy and deep gratitude when I think of the birth of my children equally I think that I will always feel sorrow when I think of the dissolution of my marriage. And again looking to my past inevitably points to my future. A future that is known by an ALL knowing, ALL loving, ALL sovereign God. "And what is to be has already been..."  This brings me great comfort-that no matter what tomorrow brings, my God will always be my constant and oh, how He loves us! To NOT know is to trust, that His perfect plan comes to fruition in perfect timing within His perfect knowledge of all things. For Him it's already been done-truly timeless.