A Season for Everything Under Heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    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 from embracing,
    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.

If you’ve ever wondered what we study in the Daytimers Bible study, now you know we study songs from the 1960s. Ok, no, but we did study these verses today.

 In the book of Ecclesiastes, Wise King Solomon looks back on his life. And one thing he reflects on is the changing of seasons. More than just the change from Spring to Summer or Fall to Winter. He notices the changes of seasons from good to bad, bad to good, sometimes bad to worse, and even sometimes good to better. One thing is consistent, however. The seasons keep on changing. At one point it is the season of weeping. At another, the season of dancing. The season of planting comes, but it is followed by the season of uprooting. And bookending all the seasons of life are the seasons of being born and of dying.

 Even though we’re more than a month away from the solstice, maybe you feel like you’re stuck in an eternal winter. Punxsutawney Phil was way off this year. With Coronavirus cases, unemployment numbers, and the tide of division and hatred all rising to new peaks, it might seem like the world is only getting darker. But this is just a season. And seasons change.

 How can I be so certain? Well, there are a few options. God may bring us out of this plague soon. There are reports of vaccines with over 95% effectiveness so far. As he’s done many times in the past, he may allow us to come out of a pandemic, to change from a season of death to a season of life. If and when he does this, may he be praised for his saving arm!

 Even if he never brings us out of this plague, we know the season will change.  We have the hope of life even in the middle of death. We have the same sure certainty as Job who said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job didn’t even know the name of his Redeemer. But he was confident that his season of suffering and loss would change to peace and joy whether in this life or the next. We know our Redeemer by name, Jesus Christ. We know that he has rescued us from the sin that brings our storms. We know that he has conquered death to bring us life. Because of what Jesus has done, even if your flesh rots in the grave, you will see him with your eyes when he returns for you!

 In Texas, we’re used to unusual seasons. We have a Summer that often disguises itself as Fall only to pull off the mask and terrorize us even in October. We are in an unusual season right now. But do not be dismayed! Trust in your God who controls the seasons. His Son grants you life now and after all seasons are over. “He makes everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).