There is a Time for All Things
The Scripture Passage for today is Ecclesiastes 3:1-22.
Big Idea: We do not control the times and seasons of life, but there is a way to flourish no matter the time and season of life.
Our three main points this morning are as follows:
1. God has set up times and seasons for the full range of the human experience 2. Even though wickedness is present, there is a time for judgment
3. The ways to flourish no matter the time or season.
Some Relevant Scripture References: (all in ESV)
1. God has set up times and seasons for the full range of the human experience. • 1 Chronicles 12:32
“Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.”
• Proverbs 27:14
“Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.”
• Proverbs 25:20
“Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.”
• Proverbs 10:5
“He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.”
• Deuteronomy 29:29
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us
and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
2. Even though wickedness is present, there is a time for judgment.
• Proverbs 9:10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is in sight.”
• Proverbs 15:3
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” • Proverbs 23:17-18
“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”
3. The ways to flourish no matter the time or season.
• 1 Timothy 6:6-8
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
• James 4:13-17
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanish es. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
• Psalm 90:12
“So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
• Galatians 4:4-5
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under
the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
• Psalm 95:7b-8a
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”