Pray

Read: Ecc 3:16.

Meditation

One of the most common objections to Christianity you will ever hear is this question: If there is a God, why does he allow suffering? Nobody likes it when things hurt. Perhaps people have raised this question with you before. There are unbelievers who deny God, and then the reason they give is because they think he should not or would not allow suffering if he really existed. Maybe you’ve asked this question yourself.

So what do we say? What is our answer? Why does God allow suffering?

I want to reframe the question slightly. When someone says, “Why does God allow suffering?”, the assumption is that we should not have to suffer. In other words, an injustice has occurred. We are assuming that the suffering should not have happened in the first place. And so the question of suffering is, more fundamentally, a question of injustice.

Solomon tackles this question head on in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and in the verse we are meditating on particularly. He doesn’t address it academically or theoretically. He takes on the question in all its grim reality. As we think of starvation in some countries, oppressive dictatorships, and things like the slave trade, this question looms large. More personally, as we consider the wrongs we have suffered at the hands of others, our faith may be tested. And so the question is there: Why does God permit suffering to exist?

This is a big topic and a challenging question.

In previous meditations I have likened Ecclesiastes to a labyrinth, a giant maze that is puzzling and perplexing. As Solomon addresses the problem of suffering here, we are faced with another enigma. This question leads us into a part of the labyrinth where it is easy to get lost and despair. There are many twists, turns, and dead ends when it comes to this issue. Solomon is going to lead us down a series of paths to help us understand it in the next section of chapter three, and this is a journey that we need to take to understand how we may fear God in a fallen world.

In this meditation, we set out on that journey. The first thing we need to do with the problem of suffering and injustice is to admit that it is a reality, and we see this in verse 16. We need to admit that injustice is real, come to terms with it, be honest and say that it exists. A Christian cannot answer the question by pretending it’s not there. This is exactly where Solomon begins in verse 16: “Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.”

Solomon does not pull any punches or deny the truth. Injustice is a reality. We certainly see this in the world around us. Over the last hundred years (at the time of writing) we have seen the injustice of the Nazi regime, or Russia under Stalin as he robbed and oppressed his citizens. We see it in Australia today. We see the injustice of abortion. We see it on a very personal level too. In chapter 4 verse 1 Solomon says: “Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.”

There are many people crying in the world in this moment. Sex slaves and paupers, orphans with nowhere to go. There are bruised and battered women and children living under the roof of tyrannical Australian husbands and fathers. There are husbands living under the constant oppression of the sharp tongues of their wives. Perhaps you yourself have been abused in some way. Injustice is everywhere. Even something as simple as being teased by someone, even a friend, or being accused unjustly can hurt deeply.

As Christians, we do not try to hide from the truth. We do not pretend that life is all roses and butterflies. One of the strengths of Ecclesiastes is that it tackles the issues of life head on. We must face up to this painful reality: there is profound suffering and continual injustice in the world today.

But there is a flip-side to this coin. We ought to admit that there is injustice, but you cannot have injustice unless justice itself is both real and possible. We see this clearly in verse 16: “in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.” There actually is a place of righteousness. But how do we know what justice really is?

The answer is simple: God is the standard of justice, and he reveals that standard to us in his word. As Psalm 33:4 says, “the word of the Lord is upright.” Without the word of God, there is no standard of justice. So as soon as we confess that injustice exists, we must also affirm that God is the standard of justice. Fearing God in a fallen world does and must include a humble submission to God, and an acknowledgment that he is and has set the standard and measure of justice.

If you reject God, you do not have a standard of justice. You are left with billions of different opinions about what justice is. If there were no God, injustice would not be possible, because justice itself would not be real.

This insight should equip us in evangelism. An unbeliever may say that if God existed, there would be no suffering. But without God, the idea of injustice and suffering does not make sense, because there is no standard. So when a non-believer asks, “Why is there suffering and injustice in the world?”, you can respond lovingly, patiently, prayerfully, but firmly, by asking: By what standard are you measuring justice? SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:9-13.

Meditation

Solomon says in verse nine that the deepest pulse of the human soul is the desire for beauty and joy and goodness. We long for it. We want to see it, and taste it, and touch it, and hear it. We want fulfillment and laughter, and wonder, and beauty, and joy. There is an insatiable, ravenous desire in every heart, longing to be satisfied with goodness and beauty. We are compelled to pursue it, and we always want more. The truth is that there is an infinite hole in our souls, constantly longing and craving to be filled with something good. That is what Solomon means when he says in verse 11, “He has put eternity into man’s heart.” And nothing in this world can fill that hole.

But there is something else here as well. This desire for goodness and satisfaction is not doomed to emptiness. God made us this way. That desire for goodness, truth, and beauty is a gift from him. As verse 11 says, “He has put eternity into man’s heart.” He did that for a good reason. The reason is not to deny us joy. The reason, in Christ, is to fill us. Why would he make a hole in our hearts as wide and infinite as eternity itself? There is one single reason, because he wants to fill it.

Our souls were designed to feast upon God. They were designed to be lavished with his love again and again. We were designed to be drowned and immersed and saturated and overcome by his beauty and goodness. The psalmist puts it this way in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” Again he says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And the earth has nothing that I desire besides you.” God the Father, revealed through Christ by the Spirit, is our ultimate good. This is the reason he has saved us, so that he, the source and substance of all that is beautiful, God himself, will satisfy our hearts.

Have you ever noticed how much you enjoy the company of people you love, friends and family? When we enjoy dinner or conversation together, hours pass like minutes. We could just keep talking and talking. It is a delight to come to know one another more deeply. We drink in each other’s attention and delight in the connection we share. This is a small picture of what life with God is meant to be like. Knowing God is like a constant conversation. We delight in his presence. We speak with him and we listen to him. And, astonishingly, as he draws us to himself through Christ, and as he sees us as being in Christ, he delights in us.

This is why God pictures our relationship with him like the relationship between a husband and wife. In that relationship there is deep and profound intimacy and connection. There is love and nearness, and joy, and beauty, and pleasure. So it is to be with our God.

If you would gain in life, if you would find what is good, start here. Stop stressing and start trusting God. Embrace the mystery of God’s providence. You cannot work out why he has appointed everything in your life, nor should you try to. Verse 11 tells us that we cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end. His plan is too big for us. Solomon is saying, walk by faith. We may question God’s providence and agonise over why certain things have happened, but the truth is that we cannot and will not fathom the fullness of God’s plans. His work is eternal, as verse 14 says. It is so wide and deep and high that we can never get around it, over it, or under it. His work endures forever. No one can add to it, and no one can take away from it. God is the sovereign ruler of history. Everything that happens is sovereignly appointed by him. So do not resist it or endlessly question it. Embrace it. Live as a child trusting your Heavenly Father. He does all things well, and he makes all things beautiful in their time, even the hard things.

There are two more applications. Trusting God can sound abstract, so what does it look like in everyday life? Solomon says it means at least two things. Do good, and enjoy life.

First, do good. Verse 12 says there is nothing better than to do good. As we live the Christian life in dependence on God and in thankfulness for our salvation in Christ, one question we can prayerfully and continually ask is: How can I do good right now? If we ask that question in any circumstance, and look to the word of God for guidance, we will be equipped to live well. As God answers that question and empowers us by his Holy Spirit to live it out, we will live lives that are pleasing and honourable before God and before others.

Second, take pleasure in all your toil, as verse 12 says. There are two ways of enjoying things. There is a self-oriented enjoyment, which every sinner is naturally good at, and there is a God-oriented enjoyment. Solomon is teaching us the second kind. In verse 13 he tells us to take pleasure in our toil, not as pleasure in isolation, but as pleasure rooted in the knowledge that this is God’s gift to humanity. We enjoy life as a gift, not as an entitlement and not as an addiction. We do not abuse what we have. We enjoy it for what it is, a good gift from our Heavenly Father. When we drink a glass of wine and taste it on our lips, our souls are not filled with a mindless craving for more. They are filled with wonder and thankfulness that God has done all things well, that he has made taste buds and the vast variety of food and drink to go with them.

Think of it this way. Watching a movie or enjoying a piece of art with someone is very different from doing it alone. There is a shared awareness of the experience. We talk about it afterwards, enjoy it together, and learn from it together. Enjoyment in life should never be done alone. Sometimes it will be with other people, sometimes it will not, but always it should be with God. We must learn to enjoy life in his presence, in constant prayerful communion with him as we receive his good gifts. In the quiet chirping of birds on a warm summer evening, as we sit in the shade and hear children laughing in the garden, a sigh of contentment rises, and with it a note of thanksgiving to our God. As we run on the beach or walk in fresh air, we laugh at the sheer exhilaration of life and exult in the glory of what God has made, worshipping him with all our souls. As we watch small children laughing and running, we too laugh in wonder at the mystery and beauty of the life God has made. As we enjoy life, there should be a constant awareness of God’s goodness and grace, an inescapable sense of his presence in all that we do.

My Dad once said to me, make sure you enjoy life. Our Heavenly Father would have us do the same. Enjoy your sleep, enjoy your work, enjoy your food and drink. That is what he has made them for. And above all, enjoy him.

Everything in life is empty without him, as chapter two shows us, because he is the true source of all joy and peace and beauty. If you would have good in life, if you would see life and beauty and truth, then the answer above all answers is this. Pursue Christ. Love the Lord your God with all your mind. Search the Scriptures so that you may understand. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Cry out to him and learn to delight in him. Love the Lord your God with all your soul, for he has purchased your soul with the blood of Christ. Love the Lord your God with all your strength. Spare nothing. Constantly strain after him. Only in Christ will we find our best life now. Only in his beauty and goodness will our souls find lasting peace and rest. Only as we rest in him will we find ultimate and eternal rest.

And on that day, when we stand in the new creation in new bodies, every single day will be a day in which we see more of his beauty, further and deeper, and it will never end. He has put eternity into our hearts, and in the fullness of time he will fill our hearts with eternity, never-ending, everlasting joy and peace. More and more and more, without end. His infinite beauty and goodness will be our portion forever. So brothers and sisters, as you look forward to that day, make it your business even now to pursue him with all that is within you. Do good. Seek Christ. Enjoy the gift of life. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:9-11.

Meditation

Solomon has challenged our perception of the good life, showing us that life as a gift from God is itself a goodness to be thankful for. And yet, the question stubbornly persists, doesn’t it? Is there any good in life? We still want and desire what is good, and with the brokenness of the world around us, the question is pressing. And Solomon has more to say to us. Because believing in God is not just about some cold-hearted fatalism. No, what Solomon will go on to show us is that this longing in our hearts, this too, is a gift from God.

And so the first thing he says in verse 11 is that he assures us that there is good in life. It’s not just an endless misery fest. It’s not a hopeless enterprise where we are doomed to despair and pain. In verse 11 we find this wonderful affirmation: He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Life is God’s gift, and everything is part of his wonderful and beautiful plan.

And so we may ask: iI there anything good in life? My friend, in God’s plan, let me tell you with absolute certainty that everything in life is beautiful. Every single thing in existence plays its part in a symphony so magnificent, so breathtakingly beautiful, so astoundingly good, that no eye has seen it, no ear has heard it, no heart has imagined it. And note carefully that word: everything. He has made everything beautiful. There is nothing in all existence that falls outside of his good and perfect plan—not pain, or suffering, or toil. We serve and love a good God.

We do not serve a God who takes pleasure in pain. He is not sadistic. He is not evil. He is not dark or twisted. He does not take pleasure in destruction.

Our God is a God of beauty. He is good. And everything he does is good. There is not the barest shadow of darkness in him. And we see his goodness everywhere, don’t we? He has made a world full of colour, an endless variety of flowers and fantastic creatures. He made the vastness of space and all its awe-inspiring wonders. He made people. He made laughter and kindness, and compassion, and tenderness—in fact, he is those things. When we see laughter and kindness in the face of a friend, we are seeing a reflection of God’s beauty and goodness. He is love.

And so our God is a God of beauty. He is Himself unspeakably, unfathomably, and infinitely beautiful, and the source of all goodness and beauty.

It is this sovereign God who has made all things beautiful in their time. Every single thing in existence, every leaf on its tree, every fibre of clothing, every bird on the wing, every invention and artwork, every composition of music, every second of time, every person in history—all of it has been custom-designed, minutely and perfectly, to manifest his beauty and goodness. He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Now take note here, because there is something important to see. Notice that the passage does not say God will make everything beautiful in its time. It says he has made everything beautiful in its time. Every moment has its beauty for those whose eyes are open to see it. Every created thing in every single place is beautiful as it plays its part in his plan.

Maybe you have watched a skilled artist drawing a picture. It is quite amazing to watch the picture unfolding, to see the skill of the pencil strokes, to see the mind of the artist materialise before our eyes on paper.

So it is with God, but his canvas is the canvas of creation, and his brush strokes unfold in ten thousand countless places in every single moment andmedium. History is his masterpiece, and moment by moment he is painting, always and in everything.

And so it is that Solomon reminds us of the truth: “we cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (verse 11). How can we possibly hold the master plan of God in our puny minds? How can we possibly conceive of the beauty that is unfolding on the canvas of history? We cannot even see it in our own lives. All we see are glimpses. We see the smile and hear the laugh of a small child as we pick them up. We hear a beautiful piece of music. Something clicks in our hearts as God reveals something beautiful to us from his word. Small adjustments. Small steps on the path of sanctification.

Now maybe you have an objection here. What about the bad things? How can God possibly say that he has made the bad things beautiful in their time? How can cancer possibly be beautiful?

Well, let me take you to a hill. It is a hill outside Jerusalem, 2000 years ago. It is dark, and there is a man on this hill, bloodied, beaten, and crucified. His lips are dry and cracked. Tears run down his face. His body has been whipped. He has been shamefully stripped and nailed to a cross. He is the very embodiment of shame. He is scorned by all. Even his loved ones are cowering and afraid at a distance. And it is worse still, because this is no mere man. This is the Son of God. Bleeding, crying out in agony. And even God himself has abandoned his Son. Mankind has met its Creator, and it has crucified him. It is ugly. It is shameful. It is the most hideous act of evil that has ever been committed under the sun.

Now let me tell you something about the cross of Christ. Because as the worst crime of humanity was committed, as the full darkness of our sin was revealed, as the ugliest thing in history transpired, as our faces were twisted and contorted in anger at him, as we whipped, beat, nailed, scorned, scoffed, and taunted him, as the most unthinkable evil in the history of the world was perpetrated, as the wrath of God for sinners was borne in full by Jesus on the cross, as the single ugliest, vilest, and most disgusting act of history was committed—in this disgrace, God was doing the most beautiful thing that has ever happened in history. He was reversing pain and suffering and evil. He was redeeming our souls.

Because from this act of redemption, in all its ugliness and pain, from this single act hearts and lives would be transformed. Souls would be rescued from the very pit of hell. Through the cross, all the evil and darkness and defilement of this world would be, has been, is being, and will be washed from the face of history. And so, as the Saviour hung bleeding and dying, we see the most beautiful sight that a sinner could ever behold. We see the sight of our Saviour redeeming us. Our life, our hope, our Christ. All our desires for goodness are wrapped up and bound up in him.

And so, how can our personal sufferings be made beautiful? The answer is simple. They are beautiful because they are miniature images of the cross worked out in our own experience. Think about that. Philippians 1:29 says: it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for him. We image the gospel through our sufferings. We image Christ through our sufferings. And as a selfish sinner is transformed by a selfless Saviour, let me tell you, that is a beautiful sight. He has made all things beautiful in their time. And in the fullness of time, you will see the way that he has used your sufferings to draw you nearer to himself, to make you more like Christ. Is that not a beautiful thing?

We may complain about our suffering, but we really are in no place whatsoever to have an opinion on that. Are we in the place of God to judge whether or not our suffering will serve his good purposes? When God was designing the brain, do you think you would have looked over his shoulder and made suggestions? There is not one human alive who even understands the brain, much less could we possibly be in a position to judge how well it was made. No, when we look at a brain, we do not offer suggestions, we marvel. We worship God that he has made such a remarkable thing as the human brain! And God’s plan in history is no different. It is incomprehensible to us. What right do we have to think we are even worthy of an opinion? No, as we look at what is before us in our lives, it is not ours to question or complain. We need to remember who is in charge. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

A new perspective on finding joy (Ecc 3:10).

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:9-11.

Meditation

One thing we must always remember, says Solomon, is who is running the show. Take a look at verse 10: “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.” Stop for a moment. Do you see what he did there?

Solomon’s very first response to the bigger question he’s asking here (i.e. is there anything good to be found) is to recall what life really is. Life is not the sum total of our own efforts. If life were something we ourselves invented, then we might ask whether there is anything good in it. When we make something, we usually have a purpose in mind. But we did not invent life. It is not a plan that we made and then executed. It is not something we designed. It is not something we achieve. It is something we have been given.

Life is a gift of God’s grace. And so life is not first about what good we can get out of it. It is about what God has designed it for. That is what Solomon points to in verse 10, and that is an important shift, one that we need to make.

When you receive a gift, by definition you are not entitled to it. It is not something you control for the purpose of self-satisfaction. It is something given to you by someone else.

And so we may ask, is there anything good in life, as though we are entitled to something good. No. Wrong question, says Solomon. Start here: life is a gift from God. Pause for a moment and feel the weight of that. Your life is a gift from God. All this business of life that we are engaged with is the gift of God.

In itself, this should be enough to answer the question anyway. Is there any good to be found in life? Well, who gave it to us? God did. So tell me, when the all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, altogether good God of the universe gives a gift to someone, will it be good? It is a foolish question really. Of course it will be good. Everything he does will be good and perfect in every possible way. He does not do things that are not infinitely and unspeakably wonderful.

The issue is that when we ask whether there is anything good, our expectations are shaped by what we think of as good. Yet we are not in the place of God. And so we must give this question over to God by faith, and simply receive the gift of life and everything that he has in it for us. We are not entitled to something good, because life was never ours to begin with. Life, and everything in it, is the gift of God and belongs to him. As we saw in a recent meditation, he ordains every season and circumstance. In spite of what we may think or feel, we must trust that our God does not do anything useless, fruitless, hopeless, or worthless. He does all things well.

Here, then, is a golden piece of application. Whatever may occur in your life, remind yourself that this is a gift from God. God has given you your life. Whatever is on your plate right now is what God has called you to do at this point in your life. In your family situation, with a spouse or without a spouse, in your workplace, in the place where you are living, everything you do and all the business you are engaged in is given by God’s sovereign appointment.

This matters because we are so vulnerable to complaining. We do complain about our circumstances, and we do feel profoundly dissatisfied with them at times. But we must remember that these things are the gift of God. That is a reality check. In all your circumstances, then, do not ask what you can get out of this. Ask instead: How can I serve God in this? How can I grow in Christ through this? How can I look to him to enable me to walk on the path he has given me? And if anyone lacks wisdom, scripture says, let him ask of God and he will give it. So we must always keep this fresh before our minds: life is a gift of God. It is crucial for fearing God in a fallen world. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:9.

Meditation

In the spirit of Ecclesiastes, let me pose a very un-cheerful question to you: If there was nothing good in life, would you really want to be alive? If misery was your only companion, would you want to be here? I think our honest answer to that question would have to be no. If there was no good, no beauty, no satisfaction, peace or joy, if there was only pain, and suffering, and misery and darkness, we would have no reason to live. You see, there is a God-given desire in the human heart, a desire in each of us, a longing to find goodness and joy, to see beauty.

As Solomon has taken us down the pathways of the labyrinth of life, we have considered the frustration of life under the sun. He has shown us the impossibility of understanding all of life’s problems. What is lacking cannot be counted, he said in Chapter 1. He has shown us our inability to fix it. What is crooked cannot be made straight. He has shown us that no matter how much material wealth and pleasure you gain in life, none of it is lasting or ultimately fulfilling. All of the wealth, possessions, power and prestige in the world will come up empty. You cannot hold on to them, and after our few short years of life they will all be stripped away. Our wealth will go to someone else. Our work will be cut short. Beauty will sag and disappear. Music will fall silent as our hearing fades. Everything is temporary and fleeting. Life’s seasons are constantly changing. And so we have seen that there is no permanent and lasting good to be found in what is done under the sun.

Solomon has looked everywhere, and so at last, as he continues on his discourse in Chapter 3, and having considered all the possibilities, he asks the grand question: Is there anything good at all? Is there anything to be gained from life? This is what he is really asking in verse 9: What gain has the worker from his toil?”

Now probably, when you read that question with this particular translation, you think he is talking about work. What gain has the worker from his toil? The idea in your head is likely this: What benefit does a labourer get from all the work that he does? What is the good of work and employment? But that is not what Solomon is asking here. He is asking something much bigger.

There are two words I want to bring to your attention in verse nine. The first is “worker”, and the second is “toil”. That word “worker”, what gain has the worker, is not referring to an employee. Let me give you another word instead: doer. What gain does the doer have in all his doings? Solomon is referring to the general sense in which we are all active. People are always busy doing stuff. Life is full of business and doing things. That is what Solomon is getting at here. For all the business and happenings and movement that there is in this world, what benefit does a person really have?

Now the second word is “toil”. “What gain has the worker from his toil?” Ecclesiastes is a book that echoes Genesis repeatedly, and he does that here. This word “toil” echoes and reminds us of the original curse. In Genesis 3, God said that man would sweat, that he would toil in a fallen world.

So this toil is full of difficulty, anguish and, well, it is toil, isn’t it? That is consistent with the life that we know. We are always toiling. We are often struggling. Getting through life is not a breeze.

And so Solomon’s question here is this: For all of life’s struggles, what good can we gain? He is asking if there is anything good for us in this difficult life. For all of our toil, is there anything of lasting benefit for us?

Maybe you have felt like this before in your life. Sometimes it all just feels like it is too much. The bad things are so numerous and heavy that they seem to block out all the good. Maybe you feel like there is just no real good in life. For all of your struggles and toil, what have you really gained? As you toil along at the daily grind, will anything ever really come of it? After four decades of work. As we are in the trenches of parenthood, and it seems like day after day after day we are struggling along and the end is not in sight. As we walk day after day feeling the constant burden of loneliness. As we sit by helplessly and watch relatives bicker and fight, and we can do nothing. These things are a burden. We struggle to make ends meet. We struggle to find reasons to push on. Life feels like a barren wilderness. Is there anything good?

The world will try to say “yes”, and it will peddle every lie under the sun to try to meet your need. Whether it is drinking, or entertainment, or education. Joining the gym to get the body of a greek god. The endless stream of advertising telling us that this time the new product will make us happy. Whether it is travelling, or voting for the right political party. Even so-called preachers will try to tell you that you can have your best life now. The world will try to sell you the lie that there is something under the sun that can ultimately satisfy you.

But you know it, don’t you, that your hunger is far deeper than any of that. This is why Hollywood superstars, with all the wealth and prestige and opportunity that life can offer, sometimes get to the top and commit suicide. Because none of those things can fill the hole in our souls. The world is full of empty promises and would-be gods.

And so Solomon muses: Is there anything good that will come of our lives? As he ponders his own question, the answer he gives us is quite different from anything the world offers. He does not promise a new car or experience. He does not promise you your dream job or a beautiful spouse.

The path Solomon leads us on in the next part of our text is far deeper than anything like that. What he shows us is that there is something wrong with the question. You do not really need an answer to this question. What you really need is a whole new way of looking at things. I wanted you to feel the weight of the question in this meditation, and consider now the oddity of his answer before we begin unfolding it next time: Is there anything to be gained? Wrong question.

If we’re looking at the world around us, at everything under the sun, and asking: What is to be gained? We are looking in the wrong place for our gain. This question is a set-up to wean us from vanity. It’s the beginning of a call to lift our eyes above that which dwells under the sun, and consider him who dwells in heaven. As an immediate application, this is a reminder of Colossians 3:1, which says: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Christ, he is the one upon whom we must set our attention! Let your mind be occupied with him, let your focus be absorbed with him.

Maybe you do feel the weight of Solomon’s original question. All Christians do at times, which is why God ministers to this need in Ecclesiastes. Maybe your heart does long for something good. But here’s your application for this meditation: park the question. Park the earthly longings of your heart. Forget the dissatisfaction you have with the things in your life for a moment. Suspend everything, and come prepared to see a whole new paradigm in our next meditation. And above all, seek the things that are above. What’s one thing you can do differently today in pursuit of that goal? SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:1-8.

Meditation

There is a time to weep and a time to mourn. What we see here is that we must be prepared, because days of sadness will come. The goal of this life is not to be always happy or always comfortable, because there is a God-appointed time to mourn. Living in a fallen world means that we should expect tears and mourning at times. As Solomon says elsewhere, there will be many dark days. And so, in preparation for those days, we should not think of suffering as something unusual, but rather fortify our souls now and be prepared for when those times arrive. Our Saviour was a man of sorrows, and God has ordained our sorrows as well, for our good. Remember the promise of verse 11, He makes all things beautiful in their time. Our tears will turn to pearls in the fullness of time, and we are called to believe that.

There is a time to laugh and a time to dance. This is one area where many of us might do well to be challenged. How expressive are we in our joy? What cultural avenues exist in our lives to express ourselves exuberantly? To dance, Solomon says, there is a time to dance. When did you last dance? And yet many of us find ourselves uncomfortable with bold expressions of joyful emotion. There is also a time to laugh, and laughter is good for the soul. It is a gift of God. Perhaps we need a push in this area sometimes. Perhaps we need to think about it more deeply, and learn again how to enjoy God’s good gifts with gratitude and freedom.

Verse 5 tells us, there is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together. There will be times when we gather resources and build projects, and there will be times when we throw resources away. Either way, we must remember not to become too attached to these things, because as surely as we gather, the time will come to cast away. Our projects and possessions in this life must be seen as temporary opportunities to further the kingdom, not as things upon which we set our hearts. Our treasure is not built out of stuff. Our treasure is Christ, seated at the right hand of God.

There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. We will have seasons of singleness and seasons of intimacy. There are times and relationships where embracing is appropriate, and there are times and relationships where it is not. Relationships, particularly sexual relationships, can easily become idols to us. The world around us tells us that we should have an unfettered right to sexual fulfilment, but sex serves a higher purpose, and at times it is right to abstain. And so, whether in marriage or in singleness, these relationships must be held lightly and seen for the temporary things that they are. In the next life, marriage as it now exists will cease, as Jesus himself said. In all our relationships, then, our highest goal must not be personal satisfaction, but growth in Christ and faithful service to God.

There is a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away. There is a time to tear and a time to sew. Once again, this reminds us to hold our possessions lightly. The true value of what we own is measured by the degree to which it helps us love, serve and honour Christ. As we consider purchasing something, or as we reflect on what we already own, we should ask how it helps us fulfil life’s real purposes. You may probably heard of the KonMari method, where you go through your house and get rid of anything that does not spark joy. Perhaps we need a Christian KonMari, where instead of asking whether something sparks joy, we ask how useful it is for kingdom purposes. We might do well to ask ourselves more often why we are buying something in the first place. And if a thing has served its purpose, then perhaps it is time to cast it away, or even give it away. Our purpose in having things must never be simply to have things. Things can so easily become idols, and our materialistic culture is habitually idolatrous when it comes to stuff. We buy and buy and buy, but as Christians we must know why we buy. Do our possessions enable us to love and serve Christ better, or do they hinder us?

There is a time to keep silence. There is a time to stop speaking and listen, a time to pause and ponder what has been said, and a time to be still in the presence of the Lord. The best time for silence is when God speaks. We must learn to quiet our thoughts and become skilled in the art of receiving the wisdom that God gives.

There is also a time to speak. We must learn to tame our tongues and use them well, because if we do not, we will not be prepared when the time to speak comes. God’s Word is full of wisdom about the use of our tongues, and we must be diligent students of it. There is a time to name the name of Christ before the world. There is a time to speak a word of kindness to a broken soul. There is a time to offer instruction to the simple, to ask wise questions of our elders so that we may learn, and to lift our voices in praise to God. There is a time to seize opportunities to share Christ with the lost, and a time to speak words of repentance. Perhaps above all, we must pray for wisdom, so that we will know how to speak well, and how to speak at the right time. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:1-8.

Meditation

There is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted. There will be seasons of hard work in life. Planting is by definition a time when you invest rather than gain. You work hard, and you give of your resources. This runs counter to the right now mindset of many Australians, who would rather spend in advance than work hard at the grind-stone and save. Yet there will be seasons of hard work, and we must embrace those seasons. So work hard at your jobs, work hard at your relationships, work hard in your homes and in raising your children. Work hard at your marriage and invest in it. Even reaping itself is hard work, but the day will come when we will reap a mighty harvest. There will be harvests in this life, but the greatest harvest of all comes in eternity. Honouring Christ in this life will mean working hard.

There is a time to kill. This probably jars a little against modern western ears, and the reason for this is that today sin has completely twisted our minds. We refuse to kill murderers, for example, and yet we defend to the hilt the right to slay unborn innocents. The death penalty is seen as abominable, but abortion clinics are treated as practically a civil right. Yet God, in his wisdom, declares clearly that there is a time to kill. We must look to God’s Word to learn the standard of right and wrong. In Gen 9:6 we read, Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. The reason our lives are precious is because they image God, and modern society has almost completely lost this insight. There is, in fact, a time to kill. When somebody murders somebody else, they deserve to die, because in murdering another person they have committed one of the purest acts of hatred against God possible. To murder is to show oneself to be worthy of death. There is a time to kill. And beyond this, it is always a good time to be killing sin. There is a time to kill, and so we must be skilled in the art of spiritual warfare. We must take up the sword of the Spirit each and every day. We must wage war against, and kill, our sinful nature every day.

There is a time to heal. Has it ever occurred to you that if you are sick, then by definition, in God’s good and perfect plan, it is not a time to heal, because you are always in exactly the season of life that God wants you to be in. This does not mean do not seek healing, and it does not mean do not ask for it in prayer. After all, there is a time to heal. But since there is a time to heal, we must also accept the fact that there is a time to be sick or injured. Think about that, and it will help you live patiently through sickness.

There is a time to break down, and a time to build up. In a fallen world, sometimes a thing may be so thoroughly corrupted by sin that all that can be done with it is to break it down and destroy it. Destroying things is a sad but necessary part of life in a sinful world. Conversely, there is also a call upon our lives to be building up in Christ: building up one another in Christ, building up our families in Christ, building a business, and building an education. There is a time to build. As we saw last week, we are called to be constructive with the gifts and opportunities that God gives us. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:1-8.

Meditation

There are particular seasons of life that Solomon brings to our attention in verses 2 to 8, and he starts with the big guns. There is, he says in verse 2, “a time to be born, and a time to die.” These are the great realities of time, the bookends of life.

There is a time to be born, and this reminds us straight away that we are not in charge. When we were born, we had no say whatsoever about anything: where we would be born, when we would be born, what we would look like, who our family would be, our country of origin. All of this was determined for us in the sovereign decree of God.

We should therefore be thankful and content with our lot in life. This challenges some of our sinful thought patterns. For example, did God make a mistake by making you look the way you do? When we wish we looked different, that is what we are saying. Did he make an error in judgement by giving you certain abilities but not others? When we envy the gifts of others, that is exactly what we are saying. Did he drop the ball when it came to limiting your opportunities? When we complain about these sorts of things, what we are really saying is that we do not trust God. No, wisdom humbly accepts the circumstances which God has decreed in our lives.

There is a time to die. Have you ever thought about the fact that God knows the precise moment when you will die? He knows the circumstances under which it will occur, and what is more, he appointed it. There is a time to die.

The great question with death is this: Are you ready for it? It is possible that your appointed time to die may be in the car park after church tonight. It may be lying in your bed many years from now. We do not know. But what we learn here, and what we are warned about in many other parts of scripture, is that we must be prepared for the day of our death. Hebrews 9:27 puts the matter plainly: “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” So let me ask you: are you ready for judgment?

Listen carefully, because this is extremely important. The cold, hard truth is that we cannot stand up under judgment. We are guilty. Psalm 130 says, “Lord, if you mark iniquity, who shall stand?” If our sins and evil were brought against us, who could maintain innocence? The honest answer is: no one. No one is innocent.

Maybe you are thinking that your good will balance out the bad. My friend, that is a dangerous idea. There is no cosmic scale where good and bad deeds are weighed against each other. Think of it this way: if a man lives an exemplary life, works hard, gives to charity, raises a family, loves his children, and then one day, at age 56, shoots a man in cold blood, he will face the full force of the law. Not all the good deeds in his life will earn him a let-off for his crime, nor should they. This is justice. And God is a God of justice.

Perhaps you think that is fair enough for a murderer, but that eternal hell is too harsh a penalty. Even if you have done the wrong thing at times, you think you do not deserve hell. Truth be told, you think it is unjust for God to send people to hell. You reject the idea. Let me tell you now that it is perfectly just for God to do so. Let me explain why.

According to Scripture, God is a perfect spiritual being of absolute and infinite purity, goodness, and holiness. Note that word infinite, because it is very important. If you steal one hundred dollars from someone, there is a certain value attached to that. Justice may require you to return the one hundred dollars and compensate them with some extra. That would be just. But imagine if you stole one hundred dollars and were then forced to pay that person one hundred dollars every day for the rest of your life. That would be unjust.

The problem is that when it comes to God, we have small thoughts of sin. Maybe you think you have only stolen a hundred dollars from God. You think your anger, irritability, or lust are not really that bad. But we have not merely stolen one hundred dollars from God. Let me show you how this works. Every time we sin, it is a sin against Almighty God. Psalm 51 says, “against you, you only, have I sinned.” Every sin against God is by definition a sin against his infinite goodness. Are you following me? Again, note the word infinite. He is infinitely good, and so anything wrong we do against him is against his infinite goodness. What this means is that any single sin at all, because it is against the infinite goodness of God, is a sin that is by definition infinitely bad. A single act of spite or hatred echoes infinitely against God’s goodness. For this reason, it is just that our punishment should also be infinite. Infinite punishment in hell is entirely just on God’s part.

So let me ask again: Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared to face judgment?

If you do not know the answer to that question, there is only one hope of escape. That hope is to cast your soul on Christ. This is the message of the gospel: Christ died to save wretched sinners. He bore the punishment of God’s infinite wrath on behalf of all who would believe in him. If you cannot say that you know Christ, then let me tell you plainly: you are not prepared for the day of your death. It is a sobering thought.

I know this is bad news, but it is because things are so bad that we call the gospel the good news. And here is the good news for you: even if you have not yet come to Christ, there is nothing whatsoever hindering you from doing so right now, even in this moment. Come and believe. Come and drink freely of God’s forgiveness in Christ. Admit your sins, accept Christ, and follow him. There is a time to die, but in Christ we will be prepared for that time. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 3:1-8.

Meditation

“Time flies,” we often say, don’t we? And probably it would be a cliché, if it weren’t such a constant and powerful reality. Time really does fly by. As children, we don’t tend to notice it. I distinctly remember waiting for my parents to stop talking after church on Sunday; five minutes felt like an eternity. In our twenties, we feel invincible, and existence still seems timeless. And yet, as life goes on, we realise the truth as the decades continue to roll by at a startling rate. The older among us are acutely aware: time flies.

In Psalm 90, Moses says, “like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.” That is what our lives are like.

Things are continually changing. An older sibling moves out of home and gets married. New babies arrive. A career changes. We move house. Elderly relatives die. The seasons of life are constantly moving, and everything continually changes.

And so, in the midst of this changing life, it is important to ask ourselves: How can we use our time well? This is why, again in Psalm 90, Moses prays: teach us to number our days. We must use what little time we have wisely, redeeming the time. In our passage, Solomon very helpfully instructs us on how to do that. This book is all about the “hevel” of life, the shortness and transient nature of existence. Solomon wants to teach us how to be aware of time so that we can use it well.

Picking up in verse 1, Solomon says: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Let’s pause here for a moment. Solomon is not just waxing lyrical about the nature of life. Yes, we have different times and seasons, but what he is saying is far more profound. He is saying that there is an order to time. One translation puts it this way: for everything there is an appointed time.

And if time has been ordered, then someone has ordered it. We should not misunderstand Solomon here, because the overarching truth he is pointing out is that God is behind the seasons of time. God appoints times and seasons. We do not live in a random universe. Everything has a God-appointed time; for everything, there is a season. Solomon even says this explicitly in verse 11: “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” Note: God has made. As Ephesians 1:11 puts it, God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

Let us not beat around the bush: Solomon is saying that God is the sovereign ruler over all history. He ordains time and all its seasons. One of our hymns calls him the “Potentate of Time.”

In God’s good order, there are different seasons in life. There are appointed times for different purposes. One does not live as a child when they are 40 years old. One does not begin university studies at the age of 10, unless one happens to be a child prodigy.

There are three life-applications that flow out of this meditation.

Firstly, we must accept the seasonal nature of life. We must accept and embrace the natural changes of life. You can try to resist the change of time, and many people do, but it is as futile as trying to reverse a tidal wave with your bare hands. God has ordered it. This might seem like basic advice, and yet many people rebel against God’s ordained seasons. Our culture is often in outright rebellion against them. Everyone wants to be in their twenties. Teenagers look forward to the freedom of their twenties. People in their thirties pretend they are still in their twenties. People in their forties and fifties do everything possible to hold on to their youth. And even those actually in their twenties are often dissatisfied; all the travelling and partying in the world cannot bring true satisfaction.

Even in our final years, rather than contentment and joy in God, there is often a sad lamentation that our best is behind us, which is not true. Euthanasia is another example. One reason it is gaining traction is that people refuse to accept God’s appointed seasons, whether old age, sickness, or difficulty.

We might think ourselves immune to these mindsets. And yes, we will and should oppose euthanasia. But do we not sometimes long for a season to end, or pine after one that has gone? We do. No, says Solomon, we must embrace the seasons of life that we are in. They are ordained by God and are in his hands. Honouring Christ, fearing God, will look like living in and engaging with each season in its proper time.

Remember, this is not just Solomon speaking to us. This is Christ speaking words of wisdom to us. Christ is the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24; Col 2:3). He says to us: “I have saved you. You are in my hands. I have ordained the seasons of your life. Whatever comes to pass for you is under my control.” Accept these seasons and all that they bring. They may not be what you hoped for, but your seasons have been custom designed by God. He calls you to embrace them, and one day he will show you the glorious things he has accomplished through them. Do not idolise a change in circumstance; live and walk through your seasons in reliance on him.

The second application is that we ought to focus on the present season. Not only do we embrace the seasonal nature of life, we throw ourselves into each particular season. We are aware of life’s stages, the advantages and temptations of each, and we seek to please Christ in them. If we are young, we use our energy and freedom to grow in Christ and serve others. We listen to and honour those who are older because they have experience. If we are older, we do not long for days gone by. We give thanks for them, we may reminisce at times, but we do not live in a fantasy land of seasons past. Instead, we apply ourselves to the present time. We pray for the younger, mentor and disciple them, as Titus 2 instructs. As parents, we throw ourselves into the tasks of our season. As singles, we learn to take advantage of the gift of singleness while we still have it.

Prayerfully applying our minds and searching the scriptures allows us to live for Christ in whatever season we find ourselves. If we struggle with longing for what we have lost or do not yet have, we can replace daydreams with prayers of thanksgiving, recalling our present blessings one by one and giving thanks to God. We can also consider prayerfully the opportunities and advantages of the present. Remember, each season is limited. If we do not focus on the present, doing good, we may find ourselves with regret later when the time has passed. Everything changes. Christ has placed you exactly where you are, but you will not be here forever. Even our time in this world is fleeting.

Finally, we may draw from this that we are called to live fully in each moment. We must live in the moment of each day. It is easy for our minds to wander instead of focusing on what is happening now. We may think about later tonight, next weekend, or the next chapter of a book we are reading. But fearing God in each season includes applying our minds to the present moment, living in today. God wants us aware of the season and engaged in the moment, with our minds in the here and now.

Today, that might mean listening well to a sermon. Later, it might mean driving safely or going to bed on time. Jesus says in Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

When we set aside time for morning devotions, having our attention fully there is essential. At work, we keep our focus on the task. When someone is speaking to us, we listen. Whatever we do, we need to be self-aware of what is happening, why we are doing it, and deliberately engage in it. Verse 3 reminds us there is a time to break down and a time to build up. You cannot build well if your mind is on demolition; you must apply your attention appropriately to the present.

This is particularly relevant today, in an age when technology scatters our attention. Our phones ping in our pockets, drawing us away. We scroll through feeds and receive countless messages in seconds. Christ says: be self-conscious about how you use your phone. Set aside times for emails or social media. Ask yourself why you are on it, what purpose it serves, and how it helps you live for Christ. Once you know the purpose, determine how much time it deserves. Hours or minutes?

Ephesians 5:15-16 says: “Look carefully – carefully – then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time.” Time is a limited resource, and careful diligence is required to use it well. We are often aware of our money, but time is far more precious. Each second spent disappears from the bank of our lives. There is a total account, and one day it will all be spent.

When Christ saves and restores us to God, forgiving and redeeming us, he redeems our time as well. It belongs to him. He gives it to us and calls us to use it for him. Christ imparts wisdom: walk carefully and wisely. He has ordered the seasons of our lives and given us one day at a time. Live in today, focus on what is before you, and be aware of the seasonal nature of life. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Pray

Read: Ecc 2:24-26.

Meditation

We see a change in Solomon starting at verse 24, because in God’s plan of redemption our labour may become fruitful again. So let us take a quick look at verses 24 and 25: “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

The first thing to see here in verse 25 is that although we now live in a fallen world, and although we no longer have endless time to work and develop the earth, still something of the goodness of work endures. It really is amazing what can be achieved in one lifetime, and even in the mundane everyday of work there is enjoyment to be found. It is satisfying to work on a project and bring it to completion. It is satisfying to labour for a day, earn money, and enjoy a good meal at the end with friends or family. These are good gifts of God and they should still lead us into thanksgiving and worship.

Life is short, and yet while we are here God has given us these things to enjoy, to give thanks. The taste of a hearty meal at the end of the day is an opportunity to taste God’s goodness in a very tangible way, and it tastes like a well-cooked steak with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. As we taste we give thanks to our Maker. He loves to give us good gifts, and he still gives us gifts, abilities, and talents, and he expects us to use them to serve Christ.

Even in a fallen world the workplace is still a place to worship, serve, and enjoy God. That is what it is supposed to be. And as a word of application, while we may not have forever to develop our gifts and abilities, we should still use what we have to develop and subdue the creation to God’s glory. If you have natural, God-given abilities in a certain area, why not develop them? Why not find ways to use them in his service? Use them for the extension of his kingdom. Everyone will be different here. Some will be mathematicians, some artists, some builders, and some doctors. The way we all contribute in different areas is part of the glory of it all. It is a good thing to use your particular God-given talents and develop them to serve others, including in the marketplace. If you did not do this you could not provide for your family, and there would be no tithes to bring into the church. As a word to parents, it is good to keep an eye on our children, seeing the areas they enjoy most and are gifted in, and perhaps encourage them to develop those areas.

But redemption in the workplace is not just a personal redemption. We have seen that God created work with a grand vision, a cosmic vision that encompassed all humanity. The final thing we need to see is that Christ’s redemption also redeems work in a cosmic sense as well. That is what we see in verse 26.

The original design for work may have been lost at the fall. We cannot live forever. We cannot escape the effects of sin on work: greed in the marketplace, a world full of darkness, creation groaning, workplaces corrupted and barely a shadow of the glory of what might have been. And yet in Christ there is hope and redemption.

When Christ came to earth he came to save sinners. He came to undo the works of Satan. When he saves a sinner he does not just save their soul. Faith in Christ is not a purely spiritual thing. Christ did not spill his blood to deliver only our souls from hell. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Redemption has a very earthy aspect. Christ forgives a drug addict for sticking a needle into their arm and committing actual physical acts of violence. He forgives adulterers for what they did with another person who was not their spouse. Sin works itself out in very tangible ways, and so does salvation. Christ’s work of redemption, our salvation, will unfold in the workplace. It will unfold in grace to graceless colleagues, and in loyalty, honesty, and hard work towards our bosses. And it will also unfold cosmically as well.

Death robs us of any lasting benefit from our work. So we must ask: Is it all for nothing? Is it all lost? A pipedream? Are we doomed to work for a lifetime and then watch our labours crumble to dust and become nothing? The answer to that question, according to verse 26, depends on whose side you are on. Are you with God, or are you playing life for yourself? Are you for Christ, or against him? That is the ultimate issue at stake.

Verse 26 says: “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God.” Do you see what is happening in that verse? To the sinner, the sinner is doomed to the despair that Solomon has been talking about, doomed to work for a few short decades and then watch it all slip away. But to the one who pleases God there is blessing and knowledge and joy.

And you see it there, do you not? All the wealth of the wicked flows into the coffers of the righteous. This is why Christ said that the meek shall inherit the earth. This is why Proverbs 13:22 says: “the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous.” In Christ, as we waltz out of Egypt dancing at our redemption, as they did with Israel at the Exodus, so always the Egyptians will pile up wealth and gold on God’s people.

We see this principle at work even in this life. Many godless men made contributions in shipbuilding in years gone by, and yet it was the missionaries who used those ships to bring the gospel to the Pacific Islands. Many godless people contributed towards the invention of the iPhone, and yet we can use it for eternal gain, to spread the gospel, to publicise and listen to sermons, to access thousands of Puritan books. All the wealth of the wicked will ultimately be stripped from them. It will do them no good unless they turn to Christ, and in Christ we will benefit from it to the glory of God.

The final thing to remember is this: in our labour and work we must always depend on Christ. Verse 26 twice mentions the one who pleases God, and it is this one who will benefit. Now let me ask you, who has ever pleased God? Not me. Not you. At Christ’s baptism God himself declared: “Behold my son, in whom I am well pleased.” It is only in Christ.

In Christ all the promises and wisdom and joy of God are given to us. True meaning in work is restored. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says it plainly: brothers and sisters, be “always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.” Without Christ all our labour and toil will be in vain. In Christ we will find meaning and purpose and eternal reward for our labour. It will endure across the generations and it will echo into eternity.

So go in Christ. Go to your workplace in his grace and strength, and consider how you may use your gifts and talents and opportunities best to honour him who saved us.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration