050508

May 05, 2008

Plucking the Old, Sewing the New

by Shana Schutte

Ecclesiastes 3:2 says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven..." In the list that follows many seasons, or times, are mentioned such as birth and death, weeping and laughing--and planting and plucking.

There is "a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted."

I don't know about you, but I usually don't enjoy plucking up anything that was planted by either me or God. First of all, it takes time, and secondly, it can be painful to pluck.

You know what I mean. You have a relationship or friendship that God is asking you to relenquish. Yes, He planted it in a past season of your life, and it served its purpose. But now He is asking you to uproot it because He wants to do something different. Or perhaps you have a job and God is saying, "Let it go. I want to uproot that thing. I've got a new purpose planned for you." Oh, but we're so slow to let go because it can be painful, inconvenient, and sometimes just plain hard work!

But what do we forfeit if we insist on holding onto the old things that either we, or God, planted in old seasons? We forfeit our calling and reduce our effectiveness for Him. Thankfully, we can rest assured of one thing: God never asks us to uproot anything in our lives without a reason and a plan. It's always because He wants to plant some kind of new seed that brings about a good change.

Are you afraid to pluck up something even though its season in your life is over? Yes, you be sure that moving into the unknown with God will never be comfortable, but it will always be right--and you'll know you're exactly you need to be.

I encourage you to get out your gardening gloves today and get to plucking if that's what God is calling you to do!

"I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever, Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it that men should fear before Him." Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NKJV).

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