Seasons (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)

Life is full of surprises. We never know what will happen next, but we know things won’t stay the same. I heard someone say, “I hate how every awesome thing must come to an end. I wish it would last forever.” I’m sure we all feel this way. Today is tomorrow’s glory day. We will say in ten years, “Remember back in 2023 when life was so much simpler.” Can you imagine that?

Next week, we might deal with unexpected or unwanted changes. Will it be hard for you to adapt? Will it be hard for you to rise above the struggles in life? We have to learn how to prepare for the life changes.

Today, we will explore the struggles we face when dealing with change and consider how we can find peace and hope despite our struggles. Perhaps, by the end of our study, we will have a game plan for whatever life throws at us this week, this month, or this year.

Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV) --- 1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:‌

The first thing we see Solomon saying is, “There is a season for everything and a time for every matter under heaven.” At first glance, this may seem repetitive and unhelpful, but stop for a second and think about it. He is saying that God has designed the world to have seasons. We know this. We experience winter, spring, summer, and fall. But he’s not talking about the cycles of our climate. He’s talking about everything in life.

Ecclesiastes 3:2--8 (ESV) --- 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

‌Notice the two seasons he gives us in each of these situations. Birth and death are two seasons. Planting and harvesting, killing and healing, breaking and building, etc. Each of these ideas is joined to their opposite. But his point is that opposites are necessary. God designed the world with both of these things being necessary. As you work through the list, you will find things you enjoy and hate. It doesn’t matter how you or I feel about these things. God has created the world with them included, and so they exist.

What Can We Gain?

Ecclesiastes 3:9--11 (ESV) --- 9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.‌

Now, Solomon returns to his question, “What gain has the worker from his toil?” He asks, “What’s the point of working if we can’t keep things the way we want them to be?” It almost sounds like a complaint. But, then, he answers the question with a greater understanding. He says, “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” He’s not condemning God for making the seasons we don’t like. He’s saying there is a time of beauty in everything.

The problem is that we can’t keep the beauty around longer. It doesn’t matter how hard we work. This is the way things are because God made them that way. The time to weep will come whether we want it to or not. No amount of work will stop us from weeping when it’s time to weep. So, we cannot make progress in this. We labor in vain if that’s our objective.

Seeking Eternity

All that Solomon has been doing is summed up in verse 11. Reread it.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) --- 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.‌

He says God has put eternity into man’s heart. That’s what Solomon is searching for. He is seeking eternity. That’s interesting. Isn’t it? Solomon recognizes that he cannot keep the beautiful seasons forever. That’s what he’s working to overcome, and he says, “It’s all vanity!”

Ecclesiastes 4:6 (ESV) --- 6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.‌

Things are going pretty well for most people in this room. We live in a very prosperous place and enjoy many freedoms. So many times in life, I hear people complain, and I complain about something, and then I think, “Somewhere, someone would love to have that problem.” We should probably have a sense of gratitude for the beauty of our season. Maybe one day, our economy will fall entirely, and we will lose everything. Who knows? Perhaps we will lose someone we love. That’s not beautiful, but it could happen. Deep down inside, we long for the good days to last forever. We have eternity in our hearts. Inside, we want to hold on to our prosperity. We want those we love to live with us forever. We want to build and not tear down. We want to harvest and not plant. That’s what Solomon is pointing out to us. We have eternity in our hearts. That’s what our desires look like.

God Has Done It

But look at what Solomon says after that.

Ecclesiastes 3:12--15 (ESV) --- 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil---this is God’s gift to man. 14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.‌

God created life this way, and we have to accept that. We can’t keep things from changing. The last part of verse 11 says that God made things this way so that man may never know “what God has done from beginning to end.” In verse 14, he says, “Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it.” Do you see a theme? Solomon is making the point that God still has power and complete control. We do not. We may want things to remain the way we like them, but we cannot keep things the way we like for them to be. Nothing can be done to stop God from doing his will. Listen to Solomon’s advice elsewhere in the book.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (ESV) --- 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Solomon’s search has not resulted in a greater understanding of what God will do next. It hasn’t helped him manipulate God or change the way things are. He says God has made man this way so they would walk before him in fear. Having no power should help us have the proper perspective on life. It should give us a sense of humility instead of pride and arrogance.

Can we see that this is at the root of Solomon’s statement, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Solomon was humbled as he sought to find a scheme of life.

A New Perspective

You may wonder, “Why did God make things this way?” It’s not fair that we have to lose things we enjoy? Why do things have to change? Why can’t we have eternity under the sun? When we turn back to Genesis 1-3, we see that he didn’t create things this way. He created everything to be eternally good. He created us to live with him for eternity, but we rebelled against his life and asked for death.

We shouldn’t be so harsh in judging God for this. We don’t deserve God’s compassion. He has given us this season-filled world to teach us to fear him, but it has beauty and joy. It’s not as though he has robbed us of all things good. Furthermore, Solomon says, “There is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good.”

Instead of gripping the unfortunate changes in life, we would be grateful for the good things we have enjoyed.

Our Search Is Over

This brings us to the point of all of this study. We need a game plan for the changes that will come our way in the future. If life is great right now, we aren’t guaranteed that life will always be this way. It could change in an instant. Or maybe life is horrible right now. How should you handle your trials?

Trust God

What should we do when anxieties creep in, and we feel overwhelmed by the unknown? We could say that there is comfort in this text because we know that God is in control and he is good. Honestly, that’s excellent advice. We can trust him to make things better. But this text doesn’t tell us that. Solomon doesn’t seem to grasp the goodness of God fully. That’s where Jesus comes in.

Jesus shows us that life may get complicated, but we can still count on God to provide our basic necessities.

Matthew 6:25--30 (ESV) --- 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

‌Through all the seasons of life, he cares for the birds and the lilies. But he cares much more for you and me. He loves us and values us as his children.

Romans 8:28 (ESV) --- 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

He loves us enough to give his son to die for us. We can trust him to bring us through trials and improve our lives.

Hope In The Unseen

Another thing that this text, and the whole book, never tell us is that God promises to give us the eternal beauty we are looking for.

Romans 8:18--25 (ESV) --- 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

‌Creation has been subjected to seasons of beauty instead of permanent beauty, but God promises us a “new heaven and new earth.” Passages like Isa 65:17, 66:22, 2 Pet 3:13, and Rev 21.1-4 tell us that God is preparing an eternal world where we will live in perfect peace and harmony without fear of death or destruction. We don’t yet know what it will be like, but we know it will be glorious.

Paul is calling for us to put our hope in that eternal home. So the second part of our game plan is connected to the first. If we trust God, we must hope primarily for the eternal blessings he promises to those who love him. These blessings will make the trials of this world appear as a light, momentary affliction.

Conclusion

Are you living a good life? Praise God! He is blessing you with a taste of what will be yours eternally if you remain faithful. Be grateful for this blessing because it is not promised tomorrow. If we lose it, praise God! He will be with us through the trial and restore a greater blessing after this life is over. Seasons will come in this life, but Jesus and God never change. Their promises can be trusted. We must put our hope in things unseen.