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where God transforms people into His likeness toward unity in the faith
![Text Box: The age old questions still looms large: What is life all about, anyway? Why do we exist? And for what purpose do we live?
One T-shirt slogan sarcastically announces that “Life Is a Beach.” Maybe so. One biblical writer pondered this question of the ages and composed a poem about the whole of life and its absurd circumstances. Perhaps you are familiar with this poem …
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. 1
Every Summer I spend some time down at the beach, watching the power of the waves breaking on the shoreline. I also spent a lot of that time wading out with my boogie board and riding the waves. It is a great thrill for me when I can ride the crest of a wave into the shoreline. I’ve discovered that there is an art to riding a wave—some skill is involved. But I’ve also discovered that only God can build a wave. If the waves aren’t there, I just can’t surf. So whenever a good wave does come along, I try to make the most of it. I don’t know why the above poem did not include that there is “a time to surf, and a time to wipe out.” Yet the poem does impart to us this clear truthful message: “God controls life, we just ride along.”
No matter who we are, the good and bad situations of life present themselves in due season—there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
Simply put, this poem reflects the events that come into every person’s life—in its wholeness—its good and bad seasons. All these things happen in life at various times and who can predict or change any of them? For while one family prepares for birth, another prepares for death—all at the same time. This is the way life is—we are powerless to change it. When unpredictable events present themselves, we are prompted to gather in the good and the bad of what life brings. They are like waves—they come rolling in, and all we can do is ride them or wipe out.
We cannot control the events of our lives, nor can we predict them. Yet for each of us there is a time to be born and a time to die. So what is the point of such a poem? Is life all about such futility and hopelessness? Are we left to live forth life in desperation? The writer continues ...
God has made everything appropriate in its time. 2
Although it is true that we are powerless to change life’s absurd ironies, we are not totally hopeless in this world. Each of the events that come into a person’s life demands a personal response. And although life is unpredictable, we are not without choices. We still can respond in appropriate ways. To wish for more control is foolish—and so we must yield to the reality that life is full of responses and very little control.
God has also set eternity within the hearts of men. 3
Our consciences cause us to yearn for eternal significance. We are unsatisfied with the way things are. Because we know that death awaits us at some point, we naturally long for something more than the tangible prizes of this life. Nor do we find satisfaction with the unanswered absurdities of life. We sense that there are answers, yet nothing more can be known about this brief existence we experience.
This seems to be our reality! Yet God has set eternity within our hearts. Humans are unique in light of all of creation—we all have needs for belonging, love, purpose, and significance which indicate that we are created for more than this earthly existence. Our hearts long for the completed picture of life through the lens of eternity. It is only when we realize that time does not limit God’s purposes that our eternal significance comes into play.
I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him. 4
God is in control and this poem reveals to us our hopelessness for changing the events of our lives—we are still powerless. And although we can do nothing to change it, we know the other side of the coin is that God governs the times. God knows and controls the seasons of life—He is present in every event.
We are riding the waves of life! We experience both crests and troughs. Sometimes we ride, sometimes we wipe out. Yet through it all we must honor the Maker of the waves. God’s in control of it all. It is He who holds the key to life’s mysterious course. And through it all who can know what God is really doing?
God has made everything appropriate in its time. 2
Whatever event you may be facing right now—death or parenthood, marriage or divorce, new job or job loss, home purchase or foreclosure, physical healing or loss of health—it is not simply a part of life’s absurd reality. This day is your opportunity to respond to God’s control.
But then you knew this—since your heart longs for eternity. This day is beyond your ability to change—you are merely a responder. The question is: Do your responses make a difference in light of the realities of life? Are you still grasping for control, as if you are the master of your own destiny? Or are you ready to realize your need for a relationship with God?
Today, we ride the next wave that comes along—we cannot change its course. And then one day another wave will come to remove us from time to eternity. May we sense God’s control over it all—God has made everything appropriate in its time. [Click here to find more answers]
We are not earthly creatures having spiritual experiences,
but rather spiritual creatures having earthly experiences.
1 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)
2 Ecclesiastes 3:11a (NIV, “beautiful” may be better translated as “appropriate”)
3 Ecclesiastes 3:11b (NIV)
4 Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NIV)](image847.png)
