Ecclesiastes 3
Soloman starts this chapter of scripture off with the idea that there is a time or a season for everything. What he is trying to say is that life is so monotonous. We go from one thing to the next and then back around again in this monotonous circle. There is real wisdom in trying to understand what season you are in so you aren’t “kicking against the goads” if you will. Sometimes God directs us into something difficult and it’s our time of weeping, mourning, or tearing down. Use discernment as you are in the different times of life seeking to understand what God is trying to teach you, instead of always asking for the next season of life.
In verse 11, Soloman writes, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
God has put eternity in the hearts of men. There is something more than just the monotonous seasons of life that we experience under the sun. There is more than just laboring and enjoying the here and now. We should live in the present; honoring, glorifying, and thanking God for everything; without forgetting about the eternity that He has put in our hearts.
I am thankful for the second part of verse 11. I’m glad that I don’t always understand what God is doing. That shows me He is a big God. If I could pinpoint everything God was doing all the time and could “read” His moves like I do a silly rom com with my wife, is He really a God deserving of my worship? I’m glad I can’t find out the work God is doing from beginning to end. This makes us reliant on Him through His miraculous and providential hand. It makes my faith grow because I know the foundation of His throne is righteousness and justice (Ps. 97).
Sometimes life just feels like a constant cycle of seasons that ends in 80 years when we return to dust. There is far more than just toiling and enjoying the fruit of your labor. God has put eternity in the hearts of men. God’s work endures forever. He doesn’t leave something unfinished. He is the captain of your salvation and the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 2 & 12). Would you place your trust in Christ and rest in the fact that there is nothing more you need to add to His work, but to simply receive the grace He is offering to you? After you do this, live for eternity and keep looking up. He is coming back soon.