The Turning Of Seasons!!!
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
As a teacher, the end of a school year is always an interesting time as the graduating class of students navigate their way through the final days and events of their high school journey. For them emotions are a rollercoaster of excitement and sadness, as they realise their freedom from high school and the shaky steps taken towards their future. For the teachers and school staff, it is a mixture of sadness as yet another clutch of those students who we care for leave for the wide world that we hope and pray we have adequately prepared them for - and a sense of pride as many students who did not think they could make it, actually did.
It is the passing of yet another passage of time marked by the ending of yet another season of our lives.
Every year seasons come and go. Days seem to pass ever more swiftly as time goes on, and the years or decades seem to drift past us in alarming speed.
Time is an interesting phenomena from scientific and metaphysical perspectives. Yet, humanity was always created with eternity forever linked with our spirit/soul. However, we live or lives, these eighty or so years on Earth are filled with events both good and bad, cherished and traumatic alike.
The author of Ecclesiates (commonly prescribed to King Solomon) has a very philosophical, yet spiritually rich perspective of life.
Ecclesistes 3:1-11 says…
Verses 1-8: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.”
Typically, people would love to have a nice quiet life, one free from struggles and complexities. However, there are so many scriptures about how it is common for people to undergo struggles and trials in their lives. These openning verses in this chapter are no different. They note that for every season of life there is a place for it.
Each season has a corresponding opposite. Birth and death, grieving and joy, war and peace and the like.
If we see this pattern in our lives, it doesn’t necessarily help us to understand those hard times, but it does put them into perspective.
There is a time for everything, and once we realise that, we can look for the good in every season, and we can expect the fruits of our experiences to occur later on in our lives if we provide fertile ground for God’s wisdom and instruction to take root in our heart, mind and soul.
Verses 9-11: “What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
These few verses clear away any doubt about whatever happens to us is dumb-luck or some random effect of a distant person’s decision.
God’s will is God’s will, and he has seen it stretch out for all time, beyond time even. This ‘big picture’ of humanities eternity is something we simply cannot comprehend.
Our real goal should be our eternity, not the momentary decades that we are ‘alive’ on this earth for. Our daily aims should be that of the Kingdom of God, rather than our own self-seeking, self-serving actions and attitudes.
God wants us to succeed and to have good lives here on Earth more than we do - just like a good father wants the very best for his children. Yet, even an earthly father knows that his children will eventually make their own choices, and reap the consequences of those decisions - both good and bad.
Proverbs 16:9 instructs us that, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” - we may want certain things to play out in our lives, but if we are being obedient to God, then it is HIS path that we end up taking, not our own. It is in this way that the seasons of our lives make sense. Every season, be it one of peace and joy, or be it one of pain and suffering - is from God and will be used for HIS glory, if we are obedient to HIM and focus on the work of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than our own lifestyle.
So, be encouraged that whilst you may be experiencing some significant issues and struggle right now, it will pass. Know that if you ask, God, through the Holy Spirit will show you things that will build you up during each and every season - be they joy-filled moments, or tremendous struggles. Know that God is with you in whatever season you may be in right now. May you be blessed in these days of darkness and confusion. May your strength be found in the deepening of your faith as you pass through each and every new season of your life.