Lesson 4
The Time Of Your Life
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
Any serious discussion about the meaning of life must give some consideration to the matter of time. Benjamin Franklin said, "Time is the stuff that life is made of." The Bible has much to say about time. There are some 619 references to time in Scripture. Ecclesiastes is a book about one man's search for a meaningful life. The man was Solomon and in chapter 3, Solomon has much to say about time.
I am a very time conscience person. I drive Carla crazy constantly consulting my watch. I hate to be late. I don't ever want to known as the late Darrell Sparks! I have promised my family that one of these days, I was going to take them on a vacation and leave my watch at home. They were dancing in the streets when I said this. But I, on the other hand, was in great fear and trepidation just thinking about not being able to know what time it is. I like to be on schedule. If you want to drive me crazy just be unpredictable and totally spontaneous and completely oblivious to time. Put me in a position where I feel that I have no control over time and I will immediately be tense and unbearable. I am not a patient person. Not only do I hate to be late, but I also hate to wait. If you want to make me make, make me have to wait for you. My obsession with time often keeps me from enjoying life. I am not bragging about these things. I am confessing.
Thus, as I read Solomon's observations about time, I am deeply under conviction. What does he have to say about time? What can we learn from this passage about the proper use of and attitude toward time?
There Is Something Beyond Man - God Controls Time, 3:1-8.
You don't have to be a brilliant philosopher or a rocket scientist to know that "times and seasons" are a part of life. Were it not for the dependability and predictability of the natural world, daily life would be chaotic. This world is controlled by God. He has designed the seasons by which things operate. Solomon observes that and then takes it to another level by reminding us that there is also an overruling providence in our lives. Providence is not a word that we use much these days. Our ancestors used it a lot. What does it mean? Not just a seaport city in Rhode Island, providence is a way of expressing the foreseeing care and guardianship of God over his creatures. It is God at work in circumstances when we don't necessarily recognize the hand of God in the happening. For instance, if you got stuck in traffic and missed your airplane, you would probably be mad and upset. But if you learned that the plane you missed had crashed and no one had survived, you would credit your to Providence. But even if the airplane doesn't crash, Providence is still at work.
God is at work in all the circumstances of life. We don't always see His hand working, we try our best to control and manipulate our circumstances, but ultimately we are not in control of life but God is. Some day we step into eternity and review our life from heaven's perspective and realize that there was purpose behind everything that happened to us, everything that frustrated us and made us made. We are not the one's in control of our time and circumstances. But God is.
In fourteen statements, Solomon affirms that God is at work in our individual lives, seeking to accomplish His will. All of these events come from God and they are good in their time. He hath made "every thing beautiful in his time "(v. 11) even the most difficult experiences in life. These 14 statements represent a cross section of life. They remind us that life is filled with opposites.
God is in control of Birth and Death. Man wants to be in control of these things, thinks that he is with things like abortion, birth control, surrogate parenthood, euthenasia, mercy killing. But God's word says otherwise. Conception is an act of God, not an accident between a couple. Who of us could predict or control the moment at which we were born and the moment at which we die? We may foolishly hasten our death, but we cannot prevent it when our time comes.
God is in control of the time to Plant and the time to Pluck. A successful farmer knows that nature works for him only when he works with nature. You cannot prune a tree or plant a garden or pick a fruit tree whenever you choose. You must do it in God's time. Being an agricultural people, the Jews appreciated the seasons. Men may plow and plant but only God can give the increase. The plucking may refer to reaping or it may mean pulling up that which is unproductive (which is more the opposite of planting). By the way, God is also in control of whether we are planted in a particular place or uprooted to a new place. That is His business.
God is in control of the time to Kill and the time to Heal. The killing referred to here does not refer to war. That's mentioned in verse 8. This killing is the opposite of or in contrast to healing. No doubt, it refers to death from sickness and plague and famine. There is a time when God chooses to let someone die from disease and a time when God chooses for the person to be healed either through medicine or miracle. We have all witnessed both.
There is a time to break down and a time to build up. Demolition crews are followed by construction crews. There is a time for blasting and a time for building.
There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. Life has sad times and funny times. Life seems somewhere strangely fixed between humor and horror, between pain and pleasure, between the Mafia and a miracle drug. We cannot always control which of these times it is. C.S. Lewis said, "Pain is God's megaphone. He whispers to us in our pleasure (when we laugh) and shouts to us in our pain (when we weep).
There is a time to mourn and a time to dance. There have been times when during the same week, even the same day, I have attended a funeral and wedding. Verse 4 seems to be describing emotional opposites. Life has both extremes and God controls all of these things, too.
There is a time for casting away stones and a time for gathering stones. The Jews of Solomon's day could sure relate to this. It is an extremely rocky land. Someone said that God gave an angel rocks to distribute all over the earth, and the angel tripped over Israel. Farmers must clear their fields of rocks before they can plow and plant. But at times the people gathered stones together for building stone fences houses. Stones are neither good nor bad but they can be used for either depending on what you do with them. Stones can be weapons to hurt someone with or walls to protect someone with. Life has this opposite as well.
There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time when open display of affection is proper and a time when it is inappropriate. There is a time for encouragement and a time for confrontation - with our partner, our children, our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
There is a time to get and a time to lose. This means that there is a time to search for something that is missing and a time to give up the search and move on. That is a hard one to know. When does giving up the search stop being desertion? When do you give up on a person? Your son or daughter?
The next phrase gives Biblical authority for garage sales. There is a time to keep and a time to cast away. There comes a point when you cannot cram one more thing in that drawer or in that closet. There are some things we would never throw away but some things that can be discarded. If you are married to a pack rat, you may want to memorize this verse or get a plaque with its words engraved on it. The point is that we must be discerning about what needs to be treasured and what needs to be trashed.
There is a time to rend and a time to sew. To outwardly demonstrate grief or repentance, the Jews would rend their garment. There is a time to rip and a time to repair.
There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Oh, how I wish I always knew this ahead of time. Sometimes silence is golden but sometimes silence is yellow. There is a time to declare your convictions and a time to be diplomatic and keep silent.
There is a time to love and a time to hate. This is a contrast that makes us uncomfortable. Are God's people allowed to hate? Hate sounds so strong. My mother would never let me use the word "hate." I would say, "I hate turnip greens." She would say, "Don't say you hate them; say you don't care for them." However, this verse says that hate is the proper feeling at times. There are some things that God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19) and we should love what God loves and hate what God hates (see Ps. 97:10; Rev. 2:6,15). Acts of injustice, prejudice and sin. We hear so much talk about love these days that it is almost nauseating. There is a time to love and a time to hate.
There is a time of war and a time of peace. There are times when war is necessary. Many of the blessings which we have today, we have because other men fought wars and preserved freedom for us. Some of our wars have been to defend and protect other peoples from tyranny. We should love peace. But peace at any price is too expensive. Sometimes war is necessary.
The point of all this is that God is at work providentially in all of the events in life. We must trust God's timing and cooperate with God's timing, not resist all that God is seeking to accomplish. If we look at the circumstances of our life with God in mind, we will not be frustrated and manipulative and life will not be meaningless. Even when God's perfect will is not being accomplished, God's permissive will is in force. Nothing happens to you or me without God's permission.
There Is Something Within Man - The World Is In Our Hearts, 3:9-14.
The Question Asked - In verse 9, Solomon repeats a question that he asked at the beginning of this book (1:3). "Is all this labor really worth anything?" Why repeat the question? Because now Solomon has brought God into the picture. This is sure to bring a new perspective to the question. "In light of this new evidence, that God is at work in my life, is there any value to the toil and labor of life?"
The Question Answered - Solomon answers this question in verses 10-14. First, he reminds us that man's life is a gift from God, v. 10. Often, we grudgingly view life as a burden to be endured rather than a gift to be appreciated. We cannot always explains the "travails" and problems and enigmas life, even though we "exercise" ourselves at understanding. But if we will simply view life as something "which God hath given to the sons of men" and accept it and thank God for it, and quit pitying ourselves, we will have a better attitude toward the burdens that come our way. We should appreciate life. Next, according to verse 11, man's life is linked to eternity. The Hebrew word translated "world" in verse 11 means "eternity." Simply put, we may not be able to understand that happens to us now for "no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." But God has put eternity in our hearts and so we must view our life not just from the standpoint of the immediate but from the standpoint of eternity. Only then will we be able to understand it all. "Farther along we'll know all about it. Farther along we'll understand why." Trust God that "He hath made everything beautiful in his time." We should accept life. Finally, in verses 12-14, Solomon answers the question by reminding us that we should enjoy life. The ability to enjoy life is a gift from God. No matter how difficult life may be, God wants us to have joy, to rejoice and to enjoy. Life is filled with opposites, as we saw in verses 1-8, but God is eternal and unchangeable (v. 14) which should produce at proper attitude in our heart. What is the right attitude? Verse 14 says that it is the fear of God. This kind of "fear" is not the cringing of a slave before a cruel master but the submission and respect of an obedient child before a loving parent. If we fear God, we need not fear anything else for God is in control.
There Is Something Ahead Of Man - The Certainty Of Death, 3:15-22.
As verse 15 says, the past seems to repeat itself so that there is "no new thing under the sun" (1:9). But this verse adds that we will give account to God who will call the past to account - "God requireth that which is past." This is not speaking about being judged for the sins which we committed before we were saved. It means that even though time goes by swiftly and gets away from us, God keeps track of it and, at the end, will call into account what we have done with it (see 12:14).
God has a time for everything - including judgment, vs. 16-17. Having brought up the subject of judgment, Solomon reminds us that every one of us is going to die. He is not saying that there is no difference between man and beast, he is saying that what happens to an animal also happens to man. Death, v. 19. Dust, v. 20. Of course, man has a soul, a spirit enters into eternity, while the beast having no soul seemly ceases to exist and enters the earth, v. 21.
The chapter closes in verse 22 with a reminder to accept life from God's hand and enjoy it while you can. We know that we are going to die and face the judgment, we know that there is a heaven or hell in eternity, but beyond that we cannot predict our future for "who shall see what shall be after?" We do not now when we will die. After we die, we will not be able to return to this life and start to enjoy it.
What about this thing called time, this stuff that life is made of? We must realize that there is something beyond us, that God is in control of time and the circumstances that it brings. We must recognize that there is something within, that God hath put the world (eternity) within our hearts. We must look at our time in light of eternity. We must remember that there is something ahead of us, death and judgment for how we used our time are certainty.
We must not simply endure life- we must learn to enjoy life. And though we cannot always explain life, we are commanded, by faith in God to experience life and to be satisfied, not with ourselves, but with what God gives to us in this life. We should grow to the point where we can say with Paul, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" (Philippians 4:11).