Verse of the Week

Ecclesiastes Chapter Three | Week Three

11/14/2021

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Week Three Summary

Chapter three starts with the "preacher" or author giving his kingdom or believers complete reassurance of the fact that there is truly a time for everything.

I am sure Solomon, who is believed to be the author is completely sure in the fact that we serve an awesome, good God. God is a sovereign ruler over everything.

If there is one thing we have learned over the past couple of years (between untimely deaths and quarantines) that there is a time for everything. Birth and unfortunately death, sweet love and horrible hate, war and peace... it all has it's own timing, and fortunately for us, it is all under God's control.

And also, fortunately for us, God makes everything beautiful in His time.

Which leads us to a powerful verse in this chapter, thus the verse of the week for week three.

VERSE 11: 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.

Literally, so much to talk about in this one verse!

I need to state the obvious, we humans have little to no control over anything in life; situations and changes in our lives we have no control over at times. We have to lean on God and rest on Him, with peace that He will make good of things in His time. In His perfect timing.

The author assures the readers (us!) that Jesus remains completely at rule over everything that happens to us, everything under the sun.

It's important to know that Jesus even knew there was a perfect time for everything. He knew this early on in His ministry. For example, He once attended a wedding in Cana. While the wedding celebration progressed, the host ran out of wine. You may know or remember this story from Sunday School! Jesus' mother asked Him to help with the wine situation. But, it was not the right time, and He knew it, He responded with "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). We know that Jesus did end up turning water into wine, this was His first miracle written in scripture.

But, what some of us do not realize, or maybe the importance of this part of the lesson is not really talked about much. He was NOT eager to perform this miracle and didn't want to draw attention to himself. This is not the only instance in which He wanted to keep a low profile. There are many occasions where He performed a miracle and told the people to NOT spread the word about Him (Matthew 8:2-4; 9:29-30; Luke 5:3-16, are just a few places in the Bible where this specific request was documented in the Bible). Jesus understood that people would want to tell everyone about Him, but he also knew that there was time for His name to be spread, and He wished to wait on that time to come.

Once learning this, because I honestly didn't realize this insight as to why He didn't perform those miracles as soon as the opportunity came up, I kind of thought maybe He was trying to hide. But, it was not the case.

You see, He wanted His glory to be revealed at the absolute best time and place. Yes, he absolutely knew His words and work would lead to the cross, but He knew that He had to stay in God's plan to do his job best, which was to bring salvation to a world full of sin. This job required Him to need time to prepare the disciples, to teach them in preparation for the job they had. Their job was to build the church after His resurrection and ascending to Heaven.

So, what was the perfect time for His name to be spread across this sinful world? His perfect timing was on the cross. And since that time and His resurrection, His name has been spread, continues to be spread.

That's just one example of how important is to wait on His timing.

Even when we feel defeated, we can find rest knowing and having faith that God is going to make it right. He will make it beautiful in His timing.

"he sets eternity in the human heart:"

The author gives the idea that us humans have an innate longing and desire in our hearts for something past our earthly lives.

We are not made to simply live, die and to stop existing. It is honestly how God designed us.

It is explained in the Bible that humans were in fact made to live eternally with God, that is why we desire to for more, its truly us believers striving to reach Heaven.

I know I find myself wondering if there is more to life than just this. This has sometimes made me feel guilty, because while my life is far from perfect, it is a blessed life. So, when I wonder what is more to life, I feel guilty. But, this explains so much, for me. It's natural. It is one hundred percent natural for us, for our hearts, to want more, to feel as though there is more, to want to be more; and that is because there IS something more! John 3:16 and 1 John 2:25 actually confirm that God promises eternal life to believers. And the reason it is so natural is because that is what God created humans for, to live in an eternal relationship with Him!

Cross References:
1 John 2:25: And this is what he promised us- eternal life.
John 2:4: "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come."