Everything Has a Season

[Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-15]

This past week, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time thinking about my past. It’s an amazing experience. I recommend that each of you take some time this week to think about your story—the events that have led to this point in your life. 

As I thought about my past, I realized that I became a Christian because of a radio station my dad chose to listen to. As he milked cows, the only station that would come in was a Christian radio station, and he eventually gave his life to Christ, which lead to the rest of our family giving our lives to Christ, which lead to me becoming a pastor, which lead to me moving away from home to accept a pastoral call at Faith Community Church. All of it happened because the only station my dad could get in the barn was a Christian station. 

As I thought about my past, I realized that I ended up being pastor of Faith Community Church because two friends of mine decided to get married. My friend Geoff went on a date with a girl, didn’t like her and ended up dating her roommate. He ended up marrying that girl who was a teacher. She accepted a teaching position in the small town of Pease, Minnesota and they decided to join our church. We became close friends and he became my “right hand man” in ministry for seven years. Then, they moved to Wisconsin. Eventually, when I was looking for a call to a church, they told me I need to check out this church in Beaver Dam that might be a good fit…and here we are. I would be the pastor at Faith Community Church if Geoff hadn’t married Rachel. 

It’s incredible. I could go on and on and on about the way small things have resulted in massive changes later on in life. At the time these things seem small and insignificant—just listening to a radio station or going on a bad date—yet they altered the course of my life—the course of history. 

Sixty years ago some Christian Reformed people got the wild idea to start a church in Beaver Dam. They held the first services in Argyl Loomans’ basement on August 14, 1960. The church plant was supported by the 5 CRC churches in the Randolph/Alto/Waupun area. Yet, the church struggled to get it’s feet under it. As the church struggled, some of the area churches decided they couldn’t help. Alto CRC stuck with us. As I mentioned last week, my great aunt remembers her father taking her to our services to help support our church and help us get our feet off the ground. After twelve years of struggle, the church began to get some traction. That traction has remained to some degree. Yet, as we know, there have been ups and downs throughout the church’s history. 

Yet, take a moment to think about the results of the decision to start a church in Argyl Loomans’ basement. If I remember correctly, little Donny Slager (I don’t know if he was ever called Donny Slager. I just thought it would be fun) participated in worship and was discipled in the faith. He would grow up to become a missionary to Liberia and a Bible translator and an editor of the UBS Handbooks on the bible. People’s lives have been touched and affected all over the WORLD and for years to come, because of the decision to begin meeting in Argyl Loomans basement sixty years ago. And here we are today, this morning, in this lawn, in this community, still praising the Lord, still discipling believers, still spreading the gospel. Who knows how the Lord may use our labor?

Everything has a season. That’s the message of this chapter of Ecclesiastes. Everything has a season. There’s “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,” (Ecclesiastes 3:2–4, NIV). When we take the time to look back over our lives, we know this to be true, don’t we? We know that there have been seasons in our life when we weeped and there were seasons in our life when we laughed. There were seasons in our lives when we mourned and seasons in our lives when we danced our way to work every day. There have been seasons when things have been torn down and seasons when things have been built up. This is life. Everything has a season. 

He goes on to say there’s “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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:5–8, NIV). In ancient warfare, they would fill fields with rocks to make them untillable and unplantable. When I picked rock as a kid, sometimes I wondered whether our fields had been the site of ancient warfare because of how many rocks there were (Not really. But it’s still funny). Yet, when the war was over, during a time of peace, they would gather the rocks and return to planting. There’s a time for both. 

A popular part of this passage during this season of COVID is that there’s “a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.” That’s true. There is an appropriate time to embrace and an appropriate time to keep some distance. There’s a time for both and we’ve all experienced both sides of this spectrum. In reality, the current debate is around the question, “Which time is it? Are we done with the season of refraining from embracing or are we not? The answer requires wisdom. 

There’s “a time to keep and a time to throw away,” (Ecclesiastes 3:6, NIV). We know this too. There’s a time to keep things and store them away, but there’s also a time to clean house and get rid of things. 

There’s “a time to be silent and a time to speak,” (Ecclesiastes 3:7, NIV). There is a time when you need to speak up and say something and there’s a time when you need to keep your mouth shut. There’s a time to post something on Facebook and there’s a time to fast from social media. There’s a time to answer a fool according to his folly and there’s a time to not answer a fool according to his folly. Everything has its season. 

We know this to be true. We have all lived enough life to know that things go up and down and side to side and things change. And in response to this the author asks, “What do workers gain from their toil?” (Ecclesiastes 3:9, NIV). What’s the point of it all if things keep on changing? What’s the point of it all if I spend a season of building only to find it followed by a season of tearing down? What’s the point of it all if I find myself in a time of laughter and dancing, knowing that someday there will be a season of mourning and weeping? 

Here’s his answer: “I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:10–11, NIV). God has made everything beautiful in it’s time. That’s the point of it all. The seasons of life and history are not random. They do not come and go randomly. They come and go by the hand of God and God will make every season beautiful in its time. God WILL make the season of weeping and mourning beautiful in its time. God WILL make this season where we refrain from embracing beautiful in its time. God WILL make the seasons of struggle and hardship and toil and stress and war and hatred beautiful in his time. 

And, as the author tells us, we have no idea what’s going on. “He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV). No one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. We have no idea the plan and purposes God is carrying out. No clue. My dad had no idea that his choice of radio station would result in his son becoming a pastor in Wisconsin. My friend had no idea that a bad date would result in a future friend becoming a pastor in Beaver Dam. Those who planted this church had no idea that twelve years of struggling to get started would result in a church that has reached into countries like Liberia and Nigeria and impacted thousands upon thousands of lives. We have no idea what God is doing. Yet, he’s still doing it. He’s still ruling over the world in such a way that EVERYTHING becomes beautiful in its time. 

So, that author says, “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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:12–13, NIV). Since God is in control and since God is making everything beautiful in its time, the best things we can do is trust God and enjoy His gifts and enjoy the season we’re in.

But, why does God do things the way he does them? The author writes, “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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:14, NIV). What God does endures forever. And, God does it so that people will fear him. In other words, God makes everything beautiful in its time so that people will worship Him. He writes the story of each of our lives so that we would worship and glorify Him for writing the best stories. When we look back over our lives, our eyes should gradually move away from ourselves toward worship of God. We should be constantly saying things like, “WOW, Lord! I had no idea that you would take this small decision and turn it into something great. Wow! I had no idea that you would take this season of grief and mourning and make it beautiful. You are a great and amazing God! You have been so good to me even when I doubted you and walked away. I can’t help but praise You!!” 

God’s timing is always perfect. Everything will be made perfectly beautiful in its time. Galatians says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4–5, NIV).  When it says “when the time had fully come,” it should really say, “in God’s perfect timing.” That’s what it means. In God’s perfect timing, he sent his Son Jesus Christ to be born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem sinners so that they could be adopted into the family of God. This happened in God’s perfect timing. 

Think about the season Israel was in when Christ came. About 700 years ago they had been kicked out of the Promised Land and exiled in Babylon. That lasted 70 years, but things were never quite the same again. For about 400 years before Christ was born there was a period of silence. There were no prophets of God. It was a time when God was not speaking to them. As God wasn’t speaking to them, the Roman government was increasingly pressing them down with their thumb. It was the worst of times. It was a season of mourning, weeping, silence, war, hatred, etc. Yet, in the midst of that season of hopelessness and despair, Jesus entered into the world bringing hope and salvation and the Kingdom of God. This all happened in God’s perfect timing. God made it all beautiful in its season. 

And, in God’s perfect time, Jesus will return again and make all things new. As we see all of history in the glow of Jesus’ glory, we will see that every season of our life and our history has been made beautiful. 

For those sports fans out there, our favorite games to remember are the games when everything seemed to be hopeless and everything lost. But then, in the last few minutes everything changes. Here in Packerland, you have many stories where Brett Favre lit up the sky in the last few minutes to win the game. The Vikings had “Two Minute Tommy Kramer” who was known for his comeback ability. We love to watch those games and to see things turn from hopelessness to extreme joy. Then, when we go back to watch the replay of the game—after we know the ending of the story—what’s our favorite part? Our favorite part of the game has become the point where everything seemed hopeless. We bring other people in to watch the game and say, “Look at this. You’ve gotta watch this. Everything looks hopeless now, but just wait. Everything’s gonna change soon.” In light of the victory at the end of the game, everything has become beautiful in it’s time. 

We know the end of history. We know Christ will come back and win. We know Christ will come back victorious to make all things new and make all things right. In light of that victory, every season of history—and every season of our life—will be made beautiful. 

And He is doing all of this—writing this story—so that we would worship him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. So, let’s take time to enjoy the gifts he’s given us, enjoy the season we’re in, and worship our faithful and powerful God who will make everything beautiful in its time.