“A Time For Perspective”

Solomon—the Teacher (and presumed by some to be author of Ecclesiastes)—for all his wisdom did not have all the answers. Nor do we. We’re far too quick to believe when thing are going horribly wrong that this must be the new normal. It’s easy to look at one snapshot and believe it’s the whole story. At the same time, we know that God has a purpose even when we don’t know what it is. We know that God is in control even when it may not seem like it. We know that by trusting in God, we can learn to live with the apparent contradictions that seem to be everywhere. We can learn to live with the unanswered questions, that seem to complicate our life of faith. Jesus said we must have faith like that of a child. A little child in their parent’s arms does not need to know all that they know. The child can rest contentedly trusting in the wisdom of their parents. Such is the life of faith in every season of life. We can learn to live by faith, content in every situation and circumstance of life under heaven.

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

¹ For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
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 throw 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 throw 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.

⁹ What gain have the workers from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. ¹¹ He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³ moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. ¹⁴ I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. ¹⁵ That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.