The Importance of Today

Transcript

GR 2124
4/28/19
The Importance of Today
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
Gil Rugh


We're going to the book of Ecclesiastes, we've come to chapter 3. As we often note when we are going through a book, it seems when you come to a chapter break, even though they weren't an original part of the book, they remind us we are moving into the book. So, it's time for me to review what we have done so far. I always feel it necessary to tell you that I know I am saying what I already told you. At my age people think that maybe he has forgotten that he told us that more than that. I just want to remind you, I told you more than once and I know I told you more than once. So here we go.

What is the book of Ecclesiastes about? There is much confusion, and I think that is too bad because it's a rich book with a message for us as God's people in living as we must live in a fallen world, a world that is under the curse. The world we live in today continues to bear the consequences of the sin of Adam and Eve, our first parents. And those consequences will not be lifted for the creation and everyone in it until Christ establishes His kingdom on the earth.

Come back to Genesis 3. This is foundational because Solomon writing the book of Ecclesiastes is basing everything he says on these foundational truths. In the Garden Adam and Eve sinned against God, rebelling against what He had told them they were to do and were not to do. And so, He is meting out the consequences for their sin in Genesis 3. After addressing the serpent, that was Satan's vehicle for addressing Adam and Eve, verse 16, “To the woman He said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’” Then to Adam He said, skipping down a few lines, “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” And that very statement will be found when we get to the end of Ecclesiastes 3.

You see what has happened. Some things have not changed, some things have changed greatly. For Eve there would be pain in childbirth. Now God intended Adam and Eve to have children when He created them. He told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth before they sinned. What changes now is Eve is going to experience, pain in childbirth. And that continues down to today, even with modern medicine and so on. The reality of that is still there. What happens is what they were created for and created to do continues, but now the negative comes in—pain, the relationship of the husband and the wife. The husband was created first, he is the leader over the woman, but now the unpleasantness of that, as a result of sin, comes in as well. For Adam when he was created was put in the beautiful Garden to cultivate it. There was activity, but there was not labor and toil. But now he will continue the work, if you will, but it becomes laborsome, toilsome, it is hard work. And it will culminate in your death. You are now temporary as a physical being. I created you out of the dust and you will return to the dust.

Come over to Romans 8 in your New Testament. And Paul picks up on the matter that we just read about in the Garden of Eden. Look at Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time…” You see it is talking about the sufferings of this present time. It is difficult. It is not only persecution for his testimony for Christ, which are a major factor in his life, but the very fact he lives in this world that is under the curse. And even in his physical body he is experiencing the consequences of the curse and is on his way to death and returning to dust. Note the way it is put, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time...” And that expression, “this present time” is literally of the now time. That word time is going to become a key word for us in Ecclesiastes 3. It will be repeated, again and again; 29 times in the first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3. Paul is reminded, this is the now time, the now time, the time in which we are living, which he was living, which we are living today, which is our time. It's a time of suffering, but we look forward to the glory that will be revealed at a future time.

Note verse 19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” The curse will not be lifted from the creation until God's children are manifested in the glory of His salvation. We have entered that salvation through faith, but we are still in these physical, mortal bodies. But when we are revealed and unveiled in our glorified bodies, the curse will be lifted from the creation. Note, the creation was subjected to futility, yet then, at that time it will be set free. We are looking forward to the time when Jesus Christ will return to earth to set up His kingdom, and the curse will be lifted.

Note verse 22, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” And so, what was said to Eve, in pain you will bear children, becomes a picture now of what all creation is enduring, as consequence of sin. It's a difficult life, it's a hard world, it's a world of pain, suffering, conflict, pressure. We read in the news here in the last day or so the sad account of someone in Hollywood, rather young, who committed suicide. Why? You are rich, you are famous, you have everything. There is something in life—the pressure, the stress, the hopelessness. Creation is groaning, and it won't be set free until Christ returns. It suffers the pains of childbirth.

Now we are part of that creation. Note this in verse 23, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit…” We who have placed our faith in Christ, are now not free from the consequences of the curse in living in this now time, before the curse is lifted from the creation. We groan within ourselves, and we look forward to the time when all the effects of sin will be removed.

So, we get our salvation, it is complete in the sense God that has declared us righteous, we have been born again into His family, we've been made new on the inside, the Scripture says. We are new within. But, there still are the consequences of sin, we live in this sin-cursed world, we live in this body that still bears the consequences of sin. Even though we have the Spirit dwelling within us, we are still on our way to death. Believers die, and they have died down through the centuries and millenniums of time. This is important to keep in mind. We live in a world characterized by labor, by toil, by stress, suffering. It can be difficult. Even when you have a good life, there are pressures. You have family pressures, you have job pressures, you have physical issues to deal with. We don't escape any of that as God's people.

Now we have to be careful, Solomon is writing to emphasize this fact and put it into perspective. When you lose that focus, then you become susceptible to preachers who tell you that God doesn't want you sick, God doesn't want you poor. Wait a minute, we are not in the kingdom. We are in a creation that is groaning under the weight of sin and the consequences of that sin. We are living in that world and we are experiencing it. We will return to dust. The completeness of our salvation is yet a future event.

Come back to Ecclesiastes. Solomon is instructing us how to live wisely in a difficult world, in difficult situations. It will require us to face reality. You don't function with the wisdom that God gives by hiding from reality, pretending it is different. We are to live through the difficulties of this life with God's wisdom, and when we do we will have joy. This will involve a couple of things, that we have noted. First, we have to realize and remember everything here, including us, is temporary, it's a breath. Your English Bible has been translated futility, but the literal meaning is a breath. The point is, it is temporary. Everything here including us is temporary. Remember God said that to Adam, you are going to return to the dust, you are temporary. And we still experience that. All of us here have experienced the loss of a loved one, someone close to us, even a dear believer. We can't escape it. Secondly, everything is out of our control. That's the desire of the wind. We are not chasing the wind, but it's the desire of the wind, the whim of the wind. It is not under our control. So, you keep those two factors in mind.

In Ecclesiastes 2:11, “Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted,” note, “and behold all was vanity,” or literally a breath, temporary, “and striving after the wind…” Better, at the whim of the wind, at the desire of the wind. I realize I am temporary and everything I do is temporary, and I don't have control over it. So that's the perspective, that's the reality, and it causes frustration. We have seen in these first two chapters something of the despair and frustration. We deal with things, with wisdom. Now you get wisdom from God, so we will look at a couple of passages again.

Come back to Proverbs 1. Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs, he is also the author of Ecclesiastes, as well as the Song of Solomon. So, in Proverbs 1:1, “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king in Israel.” Similar expression without the exact name Solomon in Ecclesiastes. Note verse 7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” You can't have true wisdom to deal with life until you come into a relationship with the living God.

That's what it means to fear God—you recognize Him as God, you let go of everything else you have hoped in, trusted in, and you place your faith in Him and the truth He has revealed concerning His Son Jesus Christ. God is the Savior, that salvation was revealed even in the Old Testament. He is identified as the Savior, but that salvation would be provided through the death of God's Son. So, the fear of the Lord is to recognize Him for who He is, to submit yourself to Him, believing what He has said, trusting in the salvation that only He can provide. Now you have a relationship with Him, you become His child, the object of His love and care. And He provides the wisdom for you to live a life, not with despair and hopelessness, but even in the hardships, the trials, the labor, the toil, the pain. He can provide joy, peace, happiness, pleasure as we see in the book of Ecclesiastes. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” and the alternative, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Come over to Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” That's why we go to God's Word as His people, because He speaks to us. This is the Word of God. He gives wisdom. In Jeremiah 8:9, a verse that we have looked at, Jeremiah says, “…they have rejected the Word of the Lord.” What kind of wisdom do they have? They don't have wisdom, it's a rhetorical question. Once you have rejected the God from whom wisdom comes, you are left in the realm of being a fool. That doesn't mean you can't be smart about some things, but true wisdom enables you to live life as God intends it to be lived in all situations and circumstances. Can only come from Him.

Go to Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” You see there is a God there that wants to work in our lives. We come to fear Him, submit to Him, trust in Him with all our heart, the salvation that only He can provide.

James 5 says that if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally. He'll be glad to give you the wisdom. He is talking in the situation of trials and tribulations. In James 1, James says count it all joy, my brethren, he is talking to believers, when you fall into all kinds of trials, multi-faceted trials. Whatever the trial may be, count it joy. This is what Ecclesiastes is talking about; how you can have joy even in the trials of this sin-cursed world. And when you need wisdom in how to proceed in these trials, you get it from God. But if you have no relationship with God, you have nowhere to go to get true wisdom. So that's what Ecclesiastes is talking about.

Come back to Ecclesiastes 3. We have looked through the first two chapters. Let me just read the end of chapter 2 because it leads naturally into the content of chapter 3. He ended verse 23 saying, “This too is vanity.” This is a breath, temporary. “There is nothing better for man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?”

No matter what you do in life, no matter what you accomplish, no matter what you have, you cannot have true joy that only God can bring to a heart and life. You'll note verse 24 when he says that nothing is better than for man to eat, to drink, to tell himself that his labor is good. He's not saying fool yourself, pretend it is good, because there is nothing else you can do because it is all hopeless and worthless. No. He says, “This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.” It is God who is at work and He can bring enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure, even in the striving and labors which characterize us under the sun, as verses 22-23 talk about. Tasks that are painful and grievous, and when we can't sleep at night. It is all temporary. In all of this, we see it's the hand of God. This is what we are talking about.

We come into this section and go through chapter 3 here. One of the most important chapters in all the Bible on the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is found in Ecclesiastes 3. We talk about this often, what of God is totally sovereign, what about man's responsibility, how does the will of man and the sovereignty of God go together. And that is what Ecclesiastes is talking about, and particularly here in Ecclesiastes 3. Let's put this together. That's what he is doing, and we don't understand it all. That’s why we don't want to miss the message of Ecclesiastes.

Now we are left thinking that Solomon is just in despair and says everything is worthless, and you are chasing after nothing. No, not all is worthless, it's all temporary. And it is out of our control. But there is great responsibility placed upon us. We are not fulfilling that responsibility if life is just misery for us, complain, unhappy, discontent, fearful, worried. Who can eat and have enjoyment without Him? We should back up and say, is there something missing? It's from the hand of God that we eat and drink and recognize all our labor and toil is good. That means it is pleasing in the sight of God, what He desires. This is from His hand.

In verse 26, “For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so he may give to one who is good in God's sight.” Do you know what? That's not how it always is, so how does that verse end? “This too is temporary and at the whim of the wind.” It’s out of our control. The point is we function a certain way and when we are fulfilling God's responsibilities that He has placed upon us, there can be joy and enjoyment.

So, we come into Ecclesiastes 3 and this is probably the most familiar portion of the book of Ecclesiastes because it talks about a time—a time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant . . . Even unbelievers have picked this up and utilized it in various ways. What chapter 3 is about is God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. We want to understand that, it's important. God is sovereign, we are responsible. He starts out with God's sovereignty, that has already been brought to our attention a number of times, and we have just read it in the closing verses of chapter 2, that God is at work. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under the sun.” That word time; as I mentioned 29 times the word time is used in the first eight verses. He starts out, “There is an appointed time for everything. There is a time for every event under the sun.”

Now we recognize, and it will become clear as we come down, as we saw at the end of chapter 2, it's God who is sovereign. He is the One who makes the appointed time for everything. He not only makes the time for everything, He makes the events, appoints the events to go on in the time. There is an appointed time for everything, there is a time for every event. The events and the timing of the events is sovereignly set by God, His sovereignty. We call it the providence of God. The providence of God is used to refer to God's action and activity in controlling all that goes on in His creation. It is a result of His doing, the exercising of His will and His power. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under the sun.” This becomes crucial. In Romans 8 if we continued reading down we would have come to verse 28 which says, “…God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” How can that be? Because God is at work and in control. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.”

Then we will be told down in verse 11, “He has made everything appropriate…” or better, beautiful, “in its time.” This is important to see here now. He has appointed the time for everything, He has appointed the events to go on in that time, He has made them all beautiful. That's why if you come back to Ecclesiastes 2:17, “I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after the wind.” If that would mean everything is empty and worthless and chasing after nothing, how could God make everything beautiful? That's not what it is saying. That's why I said it is important that we understand and keep before us, that everything is temporary and out of our control. But everything is beautiful in its time because God has determined it. And for us as His children, that puts it in proper perspective and we view the trials, the pain, the ups and the downs differently than a person who does not have a relationship with the living God.

What he is going to do in verse 2-8 is give 14 pairs of contrasting events, 28 events, 14 pairs that contrast and oppose one another, if I can put it that way. These things require wisdom to make the proper decisions. They can be totally different. That's why we have them at opposite ends, like it starts out, “A time to give birth and a time to die.” Well those are two opposites, a baby is born and when a person dies, birth and death. They are contrasting to one another. We need wisdom for both kinds of time because these are things that God has appointed in their time. They are right on schedule. We sometimes used to say God is never early, God is never late, God is always on time.

To put it in a down-to-earth human way because He has appointed this for this time, for this occasion. So, that's what these are going to do, be examples of that. Doesn't mean we have to say this is true when I gather stones or when I throw stones. But the point is there are times when we are doing these things, we are putting things out, we are gathering things in. Let's just read through, we are not going to look at each one in detail. If you want to do a detail you can go back and compare each of these things with what is in the book of Proverbs. You will find many of the proverbs have their parallel in these different events. The point we are getting Ecclesiastes I think will be clear just by some of the examples and then how it draws it together.

Let's read it through, I'll read it as you follow along, starting in verse 1. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” What do I mean by that? There is “A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear 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 throw stones and a time gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; 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.” Now remember, all of these times are appointed by God because there is an appointed time for everything. And every one of these events happened in the time that He has appointed for them. “There is a time for every event under heaven.” That word could be translated delight; puts it in the context because we are going to find God's enjoyment and satisfaction and pleasure in them all. Because when we get down to verse 11 he'll say God has made everything beautiful in its time, because God has ordained it.

Now you see that His people, as I look and I understand life like this. We are living in a sin-cursed world and I am part of this world in a body that is still bearing the consequences. My loved ones still are; we as a church family do. We have loved ones here that die of a heart attack or cancer or they lose a job, they have family pressures. We all go through it. Part of the blessing we can have is encouraging and helping one another when there are those kinds of trials. But we understand this is not an accident. This is not, if only I hadn't taken that route, if we only hadn't done . . . If this only hadn't happened . . . Wait a minute, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” There is a time to weep, God won't remove all the sorrow from my life just because I am His child. I'll need His wisdom to know how, even in my greatest sorrow, where I have the most tears. Even in that, there can be a joy in my heart. That's what he is saying. I recognize my hand . . . Otherwise Romans 8:28 means nothing, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” Then we have a problem that causes weeping and we say, God, I don't know what is wrong. I tried to do what you wanted me to do. What He is telling me is there is nothing wrong from His perspective. This is My plan for you now.

That expression we saw in Romans 8, the now time. We need to be careful. We have no input in what preceded us and we have no control over what follows us or even what comes next. We want to be careful we live for Him with wisdom, what He has brought us to today, what He brings into our lives today. Remember there is a time for every event under heaven. What He brings into my life today is what He has for me today. That doesn't mean I can't plan for tomorrow, but remember what James said, when you make plans for tomorrow, you keep the condition there, if the Lord wills. Because remember it is out of our control. It's not out of God's control, but as far as we are concerned we have no control over tomorrow. That's what Jesus said, don't worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Doesn't say God is going to take the trouble out of tomorrow, but we deal with today. This is the now time for us. Now the best preparation for tomorrow is to live with God's wisdom in dealing with the situations of today. And I can plan, I have appointments, some set up for this week, and Lord willing I will be there. If I die tonight, don't bother keeping our appointment, I won't be there. It's conditional and I have no control over it. That's the point.

So, we have all these times, all these things, you work through them and you see they cover all kinds of situations in life, what we would call good times and bad times, positive things and negative things. They are used so that we can apply them to ourselves. We may not throw stones and gather stones, commentaries will talk about that. What does that mean? Well, it could mean when you wanted to ruin somebody's field where they would plant in those days, you would go out and throw stones in it. And when you wanted to get a field ready for planting you went and took the stones out of it. Those kinds of things. But we can apply it to our situation today, in each of these. And you realize what he is not doing, and we say I could add to the list, but he is just giving a sampling of everything and every event. That it happens according to God's time. I didn't expect God would let this come into my life and I was serving Him. Well, that's because you have no control over time, I have no control over time. That's the point. But He has control and He has appointed for me what He has for me today. It may be sorrow, it may be weeping. But even in that I am to experience joy.

But the natural question after you work through the list is verse 9, “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task which God has given the sons of Adam with which to occupy themselves.” Come back to Ecclesiastes 8, we're not jumping ahead too often because we'll get there and then we will remind ourselves it was back there. But what he is saying would tie to what we have just been looking at. He's talking about a relationship with the king and chapter 8 opens up, “Who is like the wise man…? A man's wisdom illumines him…” and so on. He is telling you how to function with wisdom in this situation. But come down to verse 5, the last half of that verse, “…for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man's trouble is heavy upon him.” You see it's not that trouble has gone away, but there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man's trouble is heavy upon him. We need wisdom to handle whatever God brings into our life. And that may mean, sometimes we think, I don't think that would have been God's will. Someone precious to us gets into the car to go to the store and a drunk driver hits the car and kills them. We say, I can't see why that would be good, why God would want that to happen. Suddenly God is out of control? Everything is out of His control? I mean, He has a narrow band of control? That doesn't give me much security. There are all kinds of crazy people out there, there are all kinds of people who drive crazy and they are not drunk. But it is true.

So, in that sense there are no accidents in my life as a believer. Why? Because my God's hand is there. I may say I don't understand why that would happen. That's why we are going through Ecclesiastes. At times Solomon will say, I was frustrated, I despaired. That's part of life—frustration, despair, discouragement. And I have to get ahold of it with wisdom and remind myself. That's why we have these wisdom writings in our Bible, because that is the natural impact for us in our fallen state. Sometimes a believer will say I have to get ahold of myself here, Lord, I need to sit down. Sometimes the thing to do is go to the Word and read a portion and say, I have to settle my heart here, Lord. I need to remind myself You are in control just as much now as you were yesterday and will be tomorrow. I don't understand why You brought that into my life in the full sense, to me it would seem to have been better that things had continued the way they were or that had not happened. But I accept, that You said it is for my good. You give me the wisdom to sort through this. And I can have joy in knowing God.

We do that with our children, they are getting into a difficulty. They are frustrated and I'm not doing to do this. And you say you have to do it, you have to learn to do things you don't want to do. There was an article written by a secular person, not a believer, in the news. I read it in the last couple of days, saying how we have weakened our children and done them harm because in our day, somehow, we have gotten the idea we have to protect them from anything. So, the result is they get older and older and they are still immature and haven't learned how to deal with the realities of life. God doesn't deal with us that way. Count it all joy, my brethren, remember James is the wisdom book in the New Testament; consistent and similar to Ecclesiastes. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials. Well, I don't like trials, I like good times and the times that don't have trials. But wait, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith produces endurance. So, I say, well, Lord, in one sense I am not enjoying this, but in another sense, there is joy in my heart in knowing You, the God who loves me more than anyone else could love me is doing this to develop me as your child. And I want to grow in that, I want to learn things I wouldn't have learned otherwise. In that sense there is a satisfaction, there is a pleasure, even though there may be physical pain that has to be endured to go through it.

So back to Ecclesiastes 3. Verse 9, “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?” I mean, that's a natural question. Remember that's a question that is going to be underlying everything he says. Come back to Ecclesiastes 1:3, “What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?” I mean, what's the purpose? I'm temporary, my life will be over, I spent it working and toiling to go to the grave and have somebody waste what I worked for. Well, that's part of the reality of life. Ecclesiastes 2:22, “For what does a man get in all his labor and his striving with which he labors under the sun?” What's the point? All these things happen, the ups and downs of verses 2-8. So what profit is there to the worker? It goes on and I'll have a time of weeping and then I'll have a time of laughing. But it is all temporary because before it is all done, I'll be weeping again. I just can't avoid it, that life never hits that, it's just this. That's not the real world.

Verse 10, “I have seen the task,” note this, “which God has given...” That picks up where we were in Ecclesiastes 3:1. He has appointed the time for everything, there is a time for every event under heaven. We noted that's similar to the idea of under the sun. Some would say under heaven gives more an emphasis that this is happening under God's authority and control. That would be a possible further emphasis there. “I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of Adam...” “…the task which God has given to the sons of men…” Really the sons of Adam, Adam being the name for man, translated the sons of Adam, which would have helped us. That reminds us, we keep going back to Genesis 3, the curse. This is what God has given the sons of Adam, with which to occupy themselves. It's toil, it's labor. That's why we went back and read Genesis 3, portions of that as we began. That's what he is saying. This is “…the task which God has given to the sons of Adam with which to occupy themselves.” Those kinds of things that we see in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. There is a mixture.

We can be thankful. When man sinned God didn't suck all the grace out of His creation, didn't just leave us with the misery of sin. We have what we call common grace, the grace that God bestowed so that we can live and function. We can't escape the negative things, but God hasn't made it all that way. And for us as His children, now, He is taking care of us. Well if he is taking care of me and he gives me the desires of my heart, I don't want to be poor. My mother used to joke, I've been poor, and I've had more; having more is better than poor. There is a certain sense, we all appreciate that we live in a prosperous country. I look at these caravans and people struggling for food and carrying their belongings in a bag on their backs. I don't say, Lord, I wish that were me. I say, Lord, thank you for the grace that has put me in a prosperous country. We can enjoy those things, but the reality is that we have our own things to deal with. You still have problems with your kids. Does anybody not have a problem with their kids? Raise your hand. No, don't, because we don't want liars to expose themselves. Has any of us not said, why did we have kids? But now they are a blessing.


This is the task which God has given to the sons of Adam with which to occupy themselves. So, we miss a lot of the joy God wants to give us because we are frustrated and complaining and miserable and blaming somebody for this or somebody for that. Wait a minute, this is life. Today is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. I don't feel that way today, maybe tomorrow. And then you come to that great verse, verse 11. “He has made everything appropriate in its time.” And you have that #1 in front of appropriate, in your margin it says, literally beautiful. I like the word beautiful; appropriate would be true but it's a stronger word. It's not just appropriate, it's beautiful. He has made everything beautiful. And I like the word in verse 1, every event, and you have a little #1, literally delight. Because all these things have the hand of God in them, so in that sense it is a delight. But I say, this is what God has brought into my life, this is what God has for me today. That makes it precious. That doesn't make it pleasant in the sense of I enjoy it because it is relaxing. It may be very painful, it may be discouraging to hear this, not what I wanted. You go to the doctor, it's not the diagnosis I wanted. But Lord, I can go away and say it is what You have appointed for me. This is the day You have made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Lord, you will walk through this with me. So, the psalmist could write, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Why? Well, we never walk alone, God is with us.

These are just basic truths. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Why? Because it is God working, and for us all things work together for good, as God's children. Now we can't say that for everybody, and that's true for God's people, those who fear the Lord. We don't escape the trials of life, we may have them multiplied. I was reading an article by a very wealthy man in our state, it was in the paper, but he is 88 and he says, “I'm not afraid of death.” He seems to have a good life. I hope he will come to know the Savior before it is over. But the reality of it is, to live life wisely and to have joy in all of it. We miss, I think, some of the greatest things God has for us because we are frustrated that it is not something else, as though God could do better for me, that God hasn't planned for me . . . His plan for me, I ought to learn, grow.

“He has made everything…” I love it, everything. Up in verse 1 we had, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event…” We read back at the end of Ecclesiastes 2:17, everything is temporary and out of our control, at the desire of the wind, so to speak. Everything. But he'll put it all in perspective. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.” We are reminded, God is sovereign and in control. There is an appointed time for everything, there is a time for every event. He has had it all under control from the beginning to the end. That's what the point is. He set eternity in our hearts. Men, we were created in the image of God, male and female. We have a sense of eternity, even unbelieving scientists. They want to keep going back, back. What was before this? What was before this? They don't have biblical wisdom, so they are lost someplace in a fantasy world of billions of years making up . . . But they have that sense of eternity, there is something there.

One of the scientists who died recently, frustrated some of his scientific friends when he said, before there was something, there was nothing. We can't do that, so we make matter eternal, or something. But remember that wasn't under our control. And “man will not find out the work,” and you ought to underline, “which God has done from the beginning even to the end.” So, we are never done. That's part of the frustration. At the closing period of my life, the frustration is I won't get nearly done what I would like to get done. It will be over. I want to make today count, but I understand the days are numbered less, the bulk of my life is behind me and not before me. And I have no control over tomorrow. And my next doctor's appointment may not be as good as my last doctor's appointment. We all deal with our transitoriness, and it's a reality. But God has set eternity in our hearts. That is why, and we are in Romans 1, there is a recognition even in unregenerate man that there is an eternal God who has brought it all into existence. He fights against it, he denies it, but he knows in his heart. He suppresses that truth, he doesn't want it out. That's the rebellion against God, the refusal to fear God and bow and acknowledge Him as God and give yourself over to Him, believing what He has done for you.

That's God's plan. We'll never exhaust it. So we do today what doesn't seem that important. Do you know what makes it important? This is the appointed time, this is the appointed event. When God appoints a time and an event for me, it is important. Today is important; what's in this day for me is important. And what is important in is that I face it with wisdom. God has determined the when and the what, my responsibility is how do I handle it. God is sovereign and I'm responsible. But wait, that doesn't put it all together as much as I have to go. Here is what I have put on your plate for today, as we would express it. You deal with it in wisdom, the wisdom that I provide. It may be weeping and tragedy and sorrow. You deal with it in wisdom and that means you say this is something beautiful. As ugly and awful and terrible as it is, God has brought it into my life today for His purpose, for my good. I want to deal with it in wisdom. That doesn't mean I like pain. I don't want my children or grandchildren to die, but Lord, I will accept today what you bring into my life. I will live for you.

If you don't know the Lord, you are adrift on the sea of hopelessness and there is no future. For us as God's children it will only get better and that helps put things of life into perspective as well.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of your Word. You are a God of great grace. We sin against you, we reject you, we scorn you. Yet you love us, you love us with a great love, an eternal love, a love that provided Your Son to come to this earth to be our Savior so that when we bow before you, the God to be feared, the God to be honored, the God to be loved, placed our faith in Christ, You did what only You could do. You transformed us, made us new on the inside, caused us to be born again so that now we could live for you and live for you in every circumstance and in every situation of life because You are our sufficiency, and You provide for us. And nothing can come into our lives apart from Your will for us. Bless this day, I pray, bless each of these of Your children, whatever they are going through, whatever You are bringing into their lives. Lord, may they find Your grace their sufficiency, find joy in every situation. We pray in Christ's name, amen.