For Everything, There Is a Season

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Season (zeman: appointed time or occasion)

*Hebrew word in parentheses

Notice many of these things we naturally want to avoid: death, weeping, tearing, and losing. They seem counterintuitive. How can it ever be good to break something down, hate, or cast something away?

God's Word tells us that there are appointed times for these things. These things naturally bring change. Change is necessary at times and, in certain situations, very good for us. God's timing and wisdom bring growth and He turns ashes into beauty.

We don't always understand why things happen, there is a lot of pain and suffering here on earth because we live in a fallen world, broken by sin and sin's effects, but God understands. We may struggle and wrestle with the idea that He doesn't always intervene and stop such horrific things from happening or answer our prayers in the way we want Him to, but He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. In His wisdom, He understands and can see the entire picture. He sees what we can't.

"For by him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16-17)

He has seen every single thought, intention, and action done by every single person who has ever lived and does live. He inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15) and His ways are far above our own (Isaiah 55:9). Ultimately we can trust Him and His timing because He is perfect, wanting nothing, and He willingly stepped down from heaven into this messy, broken world to live life as a human and suffer a criminal's death even though He was sinless. Why? because He loved us so much He wanted to rescue us. He paid the price for our sin and through faith in Him, we are made right with God, forgiven, and given new life with new purpose and the hope of being with Him for eternity.

The list above can refer to both the physical and the spiritual. For example, the Bible says, that it is appointed for man to die once (Hebrews 9:27), and unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). The first one refers to physical death and the second spiritual birth.

Let's look at some physical examples.

A time to lose (Daniel 4:28-37)

“Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” Here, Nebuchadnezzar reveals his heart. He believed he prospered by his mighty power and for his majesty.

While these words were still in his mouth the scriptures say that a voice spoke from heaven and said "the kingdom has departed from you." Nebuchadnezzar lost all reason, lived among the beasts of the field, and ate grass like an ox for seven periods of time (periods can be translated year or duration of time).

Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom, his reasoning, and his status.

Why? Verse 32 tells us: "...until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”

"At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

"Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble."

Nebuchadnezzar physically lost so his soul could understand the truth and in turn, praise the One true God. In God's goodness and mercy, He humbled Neuchadnezzer so he would recognize Who truly reigned. God knew that stripping Nebuchadnezzer of all his prestige and power would humble him and expose his deeply rooted problem within-pride. His physical suffering helped bring about faith and reliance on God.

A time to cast away (Matthew 4:18-22, Luke 5:1-11, Mark 1:16-20)

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Left (aphiemi: forsake, leave)

Jesus called these men to follow Him. There were urgency and order in His calling: come here! Walk-behind me. He invited them to be His disciples and to learn by letting him lead. When Jesus said to them, "I will make you fishers of men", He was inviting them to a completely new and different way of life. He was inviting them to forsake their livelihood as fishermen and take up the work of God's kingdom. Can you imagine? These men knew fishing and, most likely, fished every day. It was familiar. Following Jesus, would be radical, risky, and unfamiliar. Would they be good at "fishing for men"? Would they be equipped to do so?

As we know, not only did they choose to cast away their lives as fishermen and follow Jesus, they did so immediately. I would venture to say, they probably didn't know at the time just how amazing this invitation was. In their casting away, they gained Someone far more valuable. They learned from the greatest Teacher, who became their Rescuer, and who gave them the Helper (the Holy Spirit) to equip them with all they needed to be fishers' of men. These men became dedicated followers of Christ and teachers. They helped establish churches and spread the Good News to many parts of the ancient world. We still have the God-breathed words they wrote today that make up the New Testament portion of the Bible; words that we get to live and grow by.

A time to weep (John 11:28-44)

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.

Why did Jesus cry if He knew He was going to raise Lazarus up from the dead?

Having read commentary and listened to messages on this passage of scripture, I believe there are a few different reasons:

~God created man and woman to be in fellowship with Him forever. Death became a part of life when Adam and Eve sinned. It was a consequence of their rebellion.

~He knew death was only a physical symptom. Lurking deep within human hearts there was (and still is) a deadly sickness called sin and just like Lazarus could not raise himself up from the dead, we couldn't (can't) make our dead, sinful hearts come alive on our own.

~He knew His own time of suffering and His agonizing death were near, and that He would bear the crushing weight of guilt and shame for our sin.

Jesus' reasons for weeping went past the surface and dove down deep into the issues rooted below. The scriptures say, to weep with those who weep (klaio: mourn, lament). There is an appointed time to lament and to dive down deep and mourn the root of a problem. As we do this, we find, if we go deep enough, that there is only One Person who can provide the solution for the root cause of all suffering. His name is Jesus. The scriptures say, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Lamenting can be a time of humble remembering that we are frail and needy. It's a time to lay our cares down at Jesus' feet and cling to His care for us. He will not abandon us in our darkest hours and we will be able to confidently say, for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy (Psalm 63:7).

A time to die (Hebrews 12:1-3)

"Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus was born specifically to die as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

He willingly did this to rescue humans from lives lived in slavery to sin and to give them new life as children of God; children who are perfectly loved, cared for, corrected, and supplied with unending mercy and grace.

Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame.

Jesus didn't despise the cross, He despised the shame of being nailed naked to a cross like a criminal. He despised the shame because the stigma that men associated with death on a cross didn't matter. What His Father thought of Him mattered. He didn't run from the immense suffering He experienced. He bore the weight of it, remaining faithful to His Father's will. His mind and heart were focused on the joy that was set before Him. He trusted His Father's character and knew "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28). He trusted His Father's perfect plan.

As we focus our hearts and minds on the author and perfecter of our faith we can, by God's grace, bear up under the weight of difficult circumstances, trusting God's character and plan. All things work together for good, but we must remember as we go through difficult circumstances (like the ones listed above), it is God's good. He sees the entire picture and knows what is best for us, even though in our human understanding we can't fathom how suffering or change could be good for us.

The examples I've shared are only a few of many examples found in the Bible that show us that appointed times for the things in the list above can bring beautiful change to a heart, mind, and life, and help a person to focus on what is truly important. Jesus is our perfect example. Like Him, we can despise the shame sometimes associated with difficulty, and we can cling to the Lord as He makes all things beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Beautiful (yapheh: good, excellent)

*Greek word in parentheses

The Lord's primary goal is not to make us happy, but to make us good and excellent. He doesn't allow times of death, weeping, tearing, losing, breaking down, casting away etc. to go to waste in His children's lives. He uses the circumstances to refine us.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ( James 1:2-4)

but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:4-5)

Love in Christ,

Amy