Text: Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
There have been many times in my life where I feel like I’m just on a treadmill, running but feeling like I’m not getting anywhere. I used to have a very busy and stressful job, my boss would describe it as running just to stand still. Oftentimes it was difficult to make improvements. It seemed like it was all we could do to maintain the status quo. Although I’m no longer working, I feel like I’m in a similar season right now with our family situation. We are working hard to influence and help our grandchildren, but frequently can’t see that we are making much progress and at times wondering if we will ever make a difference. When we are in the moment it can be difficult to see what the outcome of our efforts might be.
Solomon seems to acknowledge this in Ecclesiastes 3:9 when he states “What do people really get for all their hard work?”. There are a number of verses in Ecclesiastes which speak to the futility of life, however Solomon wasn’t the only one who questioned the value of our life on earth. Job wondered this in Job 14:1-2 ““How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.” Moses also acknowledges this in Psalm 90:10 “Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.”
In verse 10 of Ecclesiastes 3, the writer states that this burden we feel in our lives has been placed on us by God. Frequently when I am going through difficulties, I think that perhaps I am doing something wrong, that I don’t have the right focus or that I may not be on the right track so to speak. But if I look at it with the view that God has given me this burden, then I am likely not on the wrong track, but exactly on the path that God wants me to be on. God is using these difficulties or burdens to strengthen me. Some of us like to use resistance training to help maintain our physical condition, God uses the “weight” of the circumstances we face in our lives to shape our character and spiritual condition. He is using these things to prepare and equip us for doing greater things for Him and His kingdom. 1 Peter 1:6-7 “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
The writer proceeds to state in verse 11 that “God makes everything beautiful in it’s own time.” If you think about a seed, not many would think that the seed looks beautiful, definitely not beautiful like the flower it may produce. The seed though is beautiful in its season, it’s beautiful because of its potential to produce a magnificent flower. In our lives we want the end but at times it’s difficult for us to know or visualize how things will end. We know what our beginning looked like, and we are now in the middle, but what does the end look like? We need to remember that our God is a master craftsman. He is arranging the events and circumstances of our lives to make us the people he wants us to be, He transforms us not just for our benefit but for the benefit of others as well. Consider the life of Joseph. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison. All these things happened to shape him and position him to save his people. When reunited with his brothers he told them “But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” Genesis 50:19-20.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Not only did Christ redeem us and saved us from the burden of our sins, but He enables us to walk the path He has planned for us. It may not always seem obvious to us, but God is ultimately in control of our lives. Proverbs 16:9 “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” We may not always see the beauty in our current circumstances but we need to have faith that God is in control and things will work out according to His will, Romans 8:28.
Solomon goes on to say in verse 11 that “He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” We were created by an infinite God and He has placed eternity in our hearts. While we live on this earth we are bound by time, in fact time and schedules often dominate our lives, but it’s important to remember that we were made for eternity. And while we cannot grasp the whole scope of God’s work, it is not actually necessary. What is necessary though is for us to trust in the One who created the plan and is working it out.
Through the prophet Jeremiah God tells the Israelites “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” Jeremiah 29:11-14. The Israelites were in exile at this time and enduring significant hardship. Despite this God reminds them He has a plan for them and His plan was active despite their circumstances. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that we don’t see the full picture, God’s plans are greater than what we can imagine, even though we don’t understand, we can still trust His plan, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.
Solomon tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
He concludes this portion of our text – in verses 12 and 13 with some very practical advice. We are not able to control the seasons or circumstances we may face, however we are able to control our response to them. God appoints the times and seasons we are wise when we learn to live faithfully within His plan. We should enjoy our lives, do good to others and accept God’s gifts and provisions with gratitude.
While it is easy to feel like we are simply on a treadmill, running hard but getting nowhere, Solomon reminds us our toil is not in vain. The troubles and trials of our current circumstances, is not a sign of failure, it is God at work, to mold and shape our character and equip us for His kingdom, refining our faith like gold in the fire. We may look at our lives and see an unremarkable seed, not a magnificent flower. However, we serve the true living God who is expertly arranging every event to create a masterpiece. We are not required to master the plan, but to trust the One who created it. We can step off the treadmill of anxiety and into the gift of the present moment by choosing to live faithfully, doing good to others, and accepting God’s daily provisions with gratitude. If we do this we will find that everything truly becomes beautiful in its own time.
Owen Sound, ON