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A Crisis of Faith
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.
– Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Solomon says God has appointed a time for everything that happens.
The Four Platforms
From verse 11 until the end of the chapter, Solomon gives us four platforms that can help us stand:
1. God’s Plan is Wise
Even bad things have a purpose. He makes everything appropriate or beautiful in its time.
2. God’s Plan is Mysterious
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “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.” God has one plan from beginning to end.
God has a plan like a Beethoven sonata, beautifully intermingling white keys and black keys. The white keys by themselves are boring—any song played only with them falls flat. The black keys by themselves are troublesome. When you put them together, they’re lovely.
Imagine life without pain. No drunk drivers creating death. No cancer slithering through the body. No tornadoes ripping up homes. If life were a song, wouldn’t that sound much better?
Why can’t the Master Conductor just leave out the harsh notes?
Consider the most evil event in the history of man—the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Somehow, God turned that into the most beautiful event in history—with our redemption!
How does the phrase “He has made everything appropriate (beautiful) in its time” give us proper perspective on trials? How can we encourage others with that idea without sounding trite or insincere?
3. Trust God’s Plan and Enjoy Life
As one author said, “There is a deep-seated, compulsive drive to transcend our mortality by knowing the meaning and destiny of life.”
There are things we can’t understand, but we have to enjoy life today. As Solomon put it, “There is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime” (Ecclesiastes 3:12).
Even when we don’t understand everything God is doing, we cannot let what we cannot know destroy what we can enjoy. You can’t be God and control circumstances.
In Ecclesiastes 3:13, Solomon says life does not have to be meaningless: “Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.”
Jesus put it like this, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself” (Matthew 6:34). Enjoy today—trust God and have fun!
Nelson says, “You can’t let the delight of today be ruled out by the pain of what tomorrow may hold.”
4. Rest in the Sovereignty of God
Solomon said, “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” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).
What we don’t understand is not meant to alienate us from God. We’re to trust Him.
Everything that is happening now has been decreed in the past. Everything in the future will also happen according to plan.
God is not always pleased, but He is never perplexed. Or, as one man said, “God can let man do what he will and leave nothing to chance.”
Again, these are Solomon’s four platforms: God is wise; God is mysterious; enjoy today; and rest in the sovereignty of God.
May you rely on these platforms, as you shoot for the stars!