Ecclesiastes 3: A Time for Everything
“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.”
These verses are some of the most encouraging and comforting in all of Scripture. But many of us aren’t interested in God’s time table; we try to demand God work by our time tables instead. The problem is that as long as we fight God’s timing, we accomplish nothing but exhaustion and frustration. Relax and allow God to work; the results are much better.
“What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”
Many times, we demand results far too early. It’s very difficult to remember that God will make everything beautiful in its time. Only we relinquish control can God begin to work. Many times, our attempts at fixing things interfere with God’s perfect will.
What does it mean that God has put eternity in the human heart? Centuries ago, Blaise Pascal pointed out the fact that people have a God-sized hole in their hearts that can only be filled by God and nothing less. But many of us try to fill that hole with all kinds of things-possessions, food, success, entertainments-the list is endless but futile. St. Augustine of Hippo said in his Confessions “Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” Augustine was a wild young man who tried to fill that God-sized hole with pleasure until committing his life to Christ.
“And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there. I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
There have always been unjust judges. The Law of Moses warned against unjust judgments centuries earlier while later Jesus told a story about such a man in Luke 18:1-5. Obviously, there were still corrupt judges in Solomon’s day, even though Solomon might have appointed the best men he could. How frustrating to be a king striving for righteousness, only to find the men you have put in positions of trust have failed. Solomon can only hope that God will bring the final judgment. Sometimes, that’s all any of us can do, no matter how much we might want things to be different.
“I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
“So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?”
OUCH!! Really, Solomon? Is that all there is to life? At this point, we need to return to St. Augustine for a reply: “Lord, teach me to know and understand which of these should be first, to call on Thee, or to praise Thee; and likewise to know Thee, or to call upon Thee… Behold, Lord, the ears of my heart are before Thee; open Thou them, and “say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” When I hear, may I run and lay hold on Thee. Hide not Thy face from me. Let me die, lest I die, if only I may see Thy face.”
The Westminster Shorter Catechism Shorter Catechism tells us that the chief end of man is “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” May we strive to glorify God in everything we do so that we might enjoy Him forever!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to truly glorify You and to enjoy You forever. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
In an earlier generation, the Byrds popularized a song taken from Ecclesiastes 3. Here is the YouTube connection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKP4cfU28vM&list=RDpKP4cfU28vM&start_radio=1
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