Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Trust God’s Timing

Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Sermon Theme:  God is working all things in a way that calls for us to stand in awe of Him.  

Sermon Reflections:

God, by his providence, governs the world and has determined particular things and operations to particular times. In those times such things may be done with propriety and success; but if we neglect the appointed seasons, we sin against this providence, and become the authors of our own distresses. The revolutions and operations of nature are the same now, that they have been from the beginning. What we see now, is the same as has been seen by those before us. God’s works are well done—there is order, harmony, and beauty in them all. Mankind is not self-sufficient in these activities; he is within the control of God.

• What real good, what solid pleasure, is derived from all our labors?
• Can events of providence be accelerated or slowed by human cares and anxieties?
• Are you endeavoring as much as possible to do good to others?
• Are you desiring knowledge of the grander scheme of things that is well beyond your reach or understanding?
• Do you have a reverence of God (sense of the fear of God) that is due to him?
• Are you giving thanks for the transient blessings  (eating, drinking and your toils) which are gifts of God?
• Does your mind feel the impressing sense of His being, providence, mercy, and judgments upon your soul?
• Is your security found in God’s grace and His sovereignty over it?
• Do you have a blessed hope in being in His presence for eternity?

The following quotes are from the “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture” (29 Vols):

THE RIGHT TIME TO SEEK THE LORD (from Gregory of Nyssa): “Do you wish to learn the opportune time for seeking the Lord? Let me briefly state that your entire life is the only time to carry this out. Seeking the Lord is not defined by limit or time; rather, the truly opportune time for this consists in never putting an end to our search.”
 
EVERY TIME IS SUITABLE FOR PRAYER (from Basil the Great): “It is necessary to bear in mind that for certain other tasks a particular time is allotted, according to the words of Ecclesiastes: ‘All things have their season.’ For prayer and psalmody, however…, every hour is suitable, that, while our hands are busy at their tasks, we may praise God sometimes with the tongue (when this is possible or, rather, when it is conducive to edification); or, if not, with the heart, at least, in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, as it is written. Thus in the midst of our work we can fulfill the duty of prayer, giving thanks to him who has granted strength to our hands for performing our tasks and cleverness to our minds for acquiring knowledge, and for having provided the materials, both that which is in the instruments we use and that which forms the matter of the arts in which we may be engaged, praying that the work of our hands may be directed toward its goal, the good pleasure of God.”