Turn, Turn, Turn

Well, well, well..yes, it has been awhile but here I am! I have told you guys before that this healing journey, while always well worth it, is quite possibly the hardest thing of my life. So, I am learning that there are seasons of debilitating pain, necessary silence, required rest, and then, refreshing recovery. 


With the Lord illuminating the seasons, He led me to re-read Ecclesiastes 3. I have read Ecclesiastes before but I'm gonna be honest, it's not my go-to book of the Bible, it's kind of in the same category as Job to me. It's quite depressing, actually. The author starts the book by talking about how "everything is meaningless." If that's not sobering, I don't know what else is. But in Ecclesiastes 3 we begin to read that there is a time for everything (that's the chapter heading!). You have probably heard the old song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by The Byrds and they took the words pretty much verbatim from our passage here in Ecclesiastes. Here's how the NIV says it:


There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  

    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

As I was re-reading this the other day, the verse that says "a time to kill and a time to heal" stood out like me on a mission trip in Africa...or Mexico...or China. I don't know about you but in my mind, a time to kill and a time to heal don't seem like they go together. So, I have been pondering that verse for a few days now. And, while I don't have a definitive answer for us as to the full meaning, I do have some life examples of the last season I have been in as well as some Scripture to help us explore. 

In Galatians 5:24 we are told that "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 


In Galatians 2:20 we are reminded that "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."


From these verses, we can identify that in our position as Christ lovers, death has already occurred. We HAVE BEEN crucified, which means it already happened, it's a done deal. What I fail to think about though, is that crucifixion is not only death but it is being KILLED. It is physically impossible to crucify (KILL) oneself, we can't do it. That's God's job and it happens at salvation. God kills our old sinful nature, he crucifies it. What we fail to understand is that in our condition here on Earth, we don't always see or recognize the death of our old nature. We still do a lot of the same things we did before we got saved. We often think the same, have the same attitudes, have the same wrong motives, etc. Oh, we may stop the external, visible things because we are now a Christian and Christian's aren't supposed to do that (as we are quickly told upon entering the church world). But Scripture says we HAVE BEEN crucified so why is our flesh still a problem if it's dead? Why does our flesh feel very much alive? Let's look at another Scripture in Colossians. 


In Colossians 3:5 we are told to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."


Okay, so....if we have been crucified and our sinful nature is dead, why are we being told by the Apostle Paul to PUT TO DEATH our earthly nature? If something is dead, what is the need for putting it to death? At first, this whole thing can seem confusing and even contradicting as all of these statements were penned by the same guy. But here's a little illustration the Lord just gave me to help us understand. 


While, I don't make it a habit of seeing things like this...have you ever seen a worm get cut in half or a snake get it's head chopped off? Well, if you haven't, consider yourself blessed. If you have, you know that at the chopping off or KILLING (for our purposes), the snake is dead. (He HAVE BEEN killed...pardon my grammar). However, the snake continues to move and even looks alive still because it takes some time for the heart to quit pumping and the snake to realize it's dead. Gross, I know...sorry! But I hope this helps us get the point. 

The PUT TO DEATH part of Colossians is me with the help of the Lord recognizing that I am dead to my earthly, fleshly nature and me allowing the Lord to make that a reality in every area of my condition or life here on earth which feels like death because it is. A time to KILL is necessary for the Christian because unless something or someone is DEAD (and I will add, that they know it)  they can't be raised back to life, which is the ultimate HEALING. Only dead things can be resurrected! 


So, death is becoming a reality in my life. The Lord is showing me things in my life that have not recognized there death yet. Those things are being "put to death" and I know that the next season is further healing. While a time to kill doesn't at first seem to go with a time to heal, death precedes resurrection! I am dead and I am slowly beginning to realize it. I hope you do too!