In the hands of an eternal God, nothing is ever wasted.
Sermon Title: LIVING WISELY IN THE SEASONS OF LIFE
Sermon Text: ECCLESIASTES 3:1-15 (NIV)
Sermon Series: UNDER THE SUN, BEFORE GOD
By: PTR. NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavensa time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproota time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to builda time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dancea time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracinga 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 speaka time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 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 people will fear him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
Our struggle with the clock isn’t actually a scheduling problem but a perspective problem.
Life isn’t a frantic race to a finish line but a series of seasons orchestrated by Someone much bigger than us.
I. ACCEPT THE RHYTHM OF YOUR REALITY.
What season are you actually in right now, not the one you wish you were in?
You can’t change the season by yelling at the clouds; you can only change your clothes to match the weather.
II. TRUST THE “BEAUTIFUL” TIMING OF GOD.
“beautiful” | Hebrew yapheh | “appropriate, fitting”
God in his providence has an appropriate time for everything.
If you look back at a “ugly” season in your past (e.g a breakup, a failure, a season of waiting) and see it now, with the benefit of hindsight, how has God made it “fitting” or “beautiful” for who you are today?
“eternity” | Hebrew olam | “forever, everlasting, perpetual, permanent.”
You don’t have to see the whole picture to trust the Artist.
God’s clock runs on purpose, not preference.
III. ENJOY THE SIMPLE GIFTS WHILE YOU WAIT.
The goal isn’t to escape the toil; it’s to find satisfaction in the toil.
“satisfaction” | Hebrew raah | literally “to see.”
There’s a kind of joy that only comes when you stop demanding that life meet your expectations and start receiving life as a gift from God.
“revere” | Hebrew yare’ | “fear, awe”
What “burden” of control can you lay down right now, knowing that God’s work is perfect?
In the hands of an eternal God, nothing is ever wasted.
DAILY ETERNITY CHECK
Question #1: What season has God put me in right now?
Question #2: Where can i see the echo of eternity in this season?