Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Key Verse 3:1
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.”
Through our study of Ecclesiastes we began to probe the answers to man’s basic and profound questions, such as, “What is the meaning of life?” and “How can I be happy?” Today we want to think about time management. Ben Franklin once said, “Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for it is the stuff life is made of.” Time is very important to each one of us. According to my mom, “Time is Gold.” We all wish we had more time. We do our best to manage our time and even have a time table or schedule of things to do. But sometimes life throws us a curve ball. As much as we want to control our destiny, when we graduate, when to marry, when to start having a family, we find that things don’t go as planned. At these times, let’s learn from the bible how to make most of our time and be in sync with God.
1. Expect change (3:1-8).
We live in a world of change. The evidence of change is all around us. Spring becomes fall. Fall becomes winter. Young become aged. New becomes old. Solomon understood this and he expresses theses seasons of change in the first 8 verses of this chapter. He begins with these words. "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven." The Key word here is “time” and it is used thirty times in 3:1-8. God doesn't do anything by accident. God has a purpose, plan and even a time behind everything that happens. It's not accidental. There are absolutely no surprises with God. Everything is on God's time table, on his time schedule.
In the New American Standard Bible, verse 1a reads, “There is an appointed time for everything. God has appointed the times and seasons, the events of our lives, the happy and the sad, the easy and the difficult.
Look at the proceeding verses.
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,
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.
If we look at these sets of pairs, we notice 14 positives and 14 negatives. Don’t we all wish that life is always on the positive, a time for good laughs and dancing, a time of healing from our life’s wounds and a time to love and be embraced? Who wants to be in a state of weeping and mourning or a time of tearing down and being uprooted? But Solomon shares with us that life is filled with the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly. That’s life. Life is filled with seasons of change. But the bible reveals that these changes are not just random events that fall down from the sky. They just don’t happen just because “split” happens. No. The bible reveals God’s sovereignty in these times. Simply speaking, God is in control.
Sometimes you may wonder about that. I mean, it is easy to doubt that God has it all together when you look at the world. It doesn’t seem to be doing well. Just turn on the television. Abortion is up, divorce rate is rampant and our nation is in an economic crisis. Many people are afraid to look at their 401 K’s. This week we heard the tragic news of Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson who had three family members murdered. Her seven year old nephew found in an SUV shot in the head. The times seem to be really ugly right now. And in the back of our minds we think, Hmmm God doesn’t seem to be in control. But Solomon says God has it all under control. God has a purpose in what He does even if we have a hard time of understanding. There is an appointed time for everything. Roman’s 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
So what’s the problem? Why do we feel so uneasy about our times if God is in control? The problem is, we want control. We want only good times. We accept change as long as it makes us laugh and dance. But as soon as it makes us weep and mourn we doubt God’s existence and his goodness. We also want to direct our lives to fit our time table. Some of us have a mental blueprint of where we want to be in life. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is good to have set goals in our lives. However, we tend to leave God out of the schedule. If we fail to see God’s time schedule for us, we can be sure that we will totally be out of sync with God. When we accept God is in control and acknowledge his sovereignty then we can see beauty and meaning in every activity under heaven. But if God is not in our hearts then life and all its activities and events are meaningless. May God help us to simply accept that God is in control and whatever season you are in right now, whether good or bad or ugly, know that God has appointed that very time! He wants you to be where you are right now, so that you can know he is God and be in sync with Him.
2. Expect the unexpected (3:9-11).
Solomon writes, “What does the worker gain from his toil?” In other words, “What’s it all for?” Why stay late nights finishing papers and studying for exams? Why work 40-50 hours a week. Why care for children and carry the burdens of others when in the end, we all end up six feet under.
What do we gain in this life? Solomon discovers a precious truth. He says, “I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end. Here, Solomon acknowledges that God makes everything and everything happens in its proper time. Yet, our view of what’s going on is extremely limited. We can’t fathom what God has done or is doing in our lives. Let me tell you a story. There was a young man who was born in a huge family. He was loved most by his dad. One day his brothers got jealous of him because their father bought him a nice coat while they only got jackets from the Salvation Army. He didn’t expect them to become jealous. They decided to get rid of him. They took him and dragged him outside the city where they sold him as a slave. But it didn’t end there, his life got worse. He was thrown into the slammer for doing what was right. While in prison, he helped a couple inmates and one got his freedom. But he was forgotten and unappreciated. The entire burden fell on Joseph. So many unexpected things happened to him. He could have despaired and question, “Why God why is this happening to me?” But he didn’t. He didn’t become a victim of his circumstance. Our problem is that we focus our attention on the wrong thing. We only see the current situation but God sees the end result. Actually Joseph became prime minister of Egypt. Every unexpected event molded his character and was used in its proper time. He told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” When we're in the difficult times that are confusing we see the painful process, God sees the finished product. We see the ugly cocoon, God sees the transformed butterfly. He's transforming your life. We need to affirm our faith when we can't see the beginning from the end. God says, don't make snap judgments just because you look at something and it doesn't look like its fair or right in your life. You just don't know!
John 13:7 Jesus said, `You don't realize now what I'm doing, but later on you will understand.'” People, when we don’t understand, that is the very time, you just have to trust Him. 2 Corinthians 1:9 says, "This happened so that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves but in God."
Whatever you’re going through, he makes it beautiful in its time. Without God, life is purposeless and profitless, miserable and meaningless. With God, it will ultimately make sense.
Solomon also says that God has set eternity into the hearts of mankind. Knowing that gives purpose to life. The phrase “eternity in their hearts” means God has placed a big question mark deep in every man’s soul. Anthropological evidence suggests that every culture has a God-given, innate sense of the eternal—that this world is not all there is.
Look at the tombs and pyramids in Egypt. Some studies revealed that it required the efforts of one hundred thousand workers forty years to build just one of the great pyramids. Why so much effort? Why would somebody put that amount of emphasis on a tomb—on the afterlife? The answer is, the Egyptians understood full well that they would spend a lot more time in the afterlife than they would spend in this life. Granted, some of their conceptions of what would happen in the afterlife were a little skewed. But the point is, they understood to the core of their being that the afterlife was a whole lot more important than this life, and so they prepared for the afterlife during this life. God had placed eternity in their hearts.
Since all has been predetermined by God, there is purpose and meaning in the events of life. St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you.” Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man that cannot be filled by any created being, but by God alone made known through Jesus Christ.” The truth is: we have an eternal itch. We all long to know the eternal significance of what we do. The Bible says this can only be found in Christ, for God has set eternity in the hearts of men.
Solomon has said we need to expect change and expect the unexpected. Now he tells us to…
3. Enjoy life (3:12-13).
Solomon says one of the greatest responses to this life is to make the most of it. Not in a hedonistic sense, but in a spiritual sense. We enjoy life by including God in all that we do and being filled with joy. Solomon declares, “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God.” God wants us to have fun. That’s why our main prayer topic here at West Loop is to have fun serving God. Let’s face it, life is stressful. It is filled with all kinds of pressures from people, projects, pursuits, and more. For example, while preparing for this message, I got 3 phone calls; one from my husband, the principal and from the Kindergarten teacher. My 5 year old daughter ran into a boy in recess and had to get stitches. Then just this last Monday, my daughter Sarah got her video Ipod stolen along w/ her friend’s Ipod, her cell phone and a $10 bill. Not to mention I got an unexpected bill from the City of Chicago for running a Red Light on Roosevelt and Halsted for $200. More than this, what if tomorrow I get involve in some kind of road rage with a truck driver or find out that I am diagnosed w/ diabetes. Then it makes sense to enjoy this life, now. Making the most of our life today is then very important. We must be wise stewards and not waste our precious time. How can we enjoy life now? Let me share with you the answer to that question. Actually it’s a secret which Solomon figured out. You can enjoy life now only when we …
4. Fear God (3:14-15).
Solomon closes this passage with these words: “I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. God’s work is permanent and complete. The fear of God is one of the key themes in Ecclesiastes and throughout the Bible. The phrases “fear God” or “fear of the Lord” appear over one hundred times in the Bible. The concept does not refer to paralyzing terror like watching a scary movie such as “the ring”, or being chased by a boogie man. To fear God is to honor God more than ourselves. It is to take him at his words and believe that he knows what’s best for us. In other words, it is a commitment of the total being to trust and believe that God is indeed living and he is in our presence. If you know the holy God is looking over you’re your shoulders, you would think twice about committing that sin. In fact, the fear of God enables you to overcome yourself and ask for God’s mercy. When we do we can see ourselves before God and fear Him, with love and thanksgiving. Let me tell you a couple who truly feared God. Just a little over a month ago, God took the life of a precious baby. It was an unexpected event for this family. In fact, they buried their three-month old son two days after their first anniversary. But let me share with you what amazed me the most. It was the words that came out of their mouths during this painful event. Though they mourned and wept, they also appreciated God who is Sovereign. They understand what it means to fear God by believing that God was in full control even over the life of their son.
Today, will you fear God? Will you accept that he is in control? That no matter what season of life you are in, will you trust Him? May God help us to be in sync with God.