Peace for a Purpose

I have had not one single writing assignment since I turned in my profile on the McCoy brothers for Oklahoma Today the first week in June. During the school year, I had writing assignments, papers to grade, and two girls to care for. For the past six weeks, it’s been just me and the girls, enjoying the summer. What to do with this summertime slowdown? Work on my temple, of course! That’s what the wisest person who ever lived, King Solomon, did when God gave him a season of peace. His father, David, had faced one life-threatening experience after another: if he wasn’t running for his life from the murderous King Saul, he was fighting a war. But Solomon was given a kingdom at peace: no famine, no enemies; all was prosperity and peace (1 Kings 5:3ff). So after God gave him the gift of wisdom, riches, and honor, King Solomon didn’t just recline in his throne to have grapes and pomegranates dropped into his mouth. He used this time to build a temple for God, a place to honor Him now that He had delivered the Israelites from slavery and set up a kingdom worthy of God’s people.

Can we say we’re using our seasons of peace as productively? Although I’ve done my share of relaxing, playdates, and vacations this summer, I’ve tried to use my newfound freedom to work on writing projects of my own: this blog, a book on Christian principles in Jane Austen, and a new website for Christian teens called Katharos NOW.  God gave me this pause before the frantic rush of the school year and the holidays to work on my temple: to glorify Him through the talents and the time He has given me. I hope I’ve done that this summer, because a period without trials or a packed schedule is truly a gift from God: a time for us to fortify and build up so that we’re ready for the busier, harder times to come.