Recently, I began to think about one of my all time favorite movies, “Hoosiers,” It’s a movie about the small town of Hickory who makes it to the finals of the Indiana State High School Basketball Tournament. It was historic because no school of that size had ever made it to the finals before. A huge turning point in their basketball season was the return of Jimmy Chitwood. He had made a decision not to play basketball that year. In the course of the season, first year coach, Norman Dale came under fire and at a special meeting was voted out. But in walks Jimmy, who asked to address the gathered townspeople. He looks out and says, “I don’t know if it’ll make any change but I figured it’s time for me to start playing ball.” The townspeople roar in approval. But then He says that he would play only if Coach Dale coached. They took another vote, Coach Dale was reinstated and the rest is Indiana basketball history.
This morning, as I spent time with God, a clear thought entered my mind. “It’s time to start writing again.” I wondered about that. Why now? I haven’t written a word for over a year. I had thoughts about starting up again but things kept coming up. I even revisited my weekly schedule and made time to write. But…
As I pondered whether God was leading me to start up again, a familiar passage entered my mind. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
I continue to learn that abiding in Christ is resting in God’s perfect timing. There are times when I can’t see the perfection of His timing. There are so many times when I want to just charge ahead. There are times when the urgency of something pulls me away from trusting in God’s timing. And then there are times when, out of the blue, He leads me to do something. Oh how I long to hear clearly the voice of God and fully rest in His timing.
So, like my friend, Jimmy Chitwood, I figure it’s time for me to start writing again, trusting that this is God’s perfect timing.
another step….
the journey 