A Time for Change- Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
Today, we live in a world of rapid change. The evidence of change is all around us: Spring becomes summer. Summer becomes fall. Fall becomes winter. Winter becomes spring. The young become aged and the new becomes old and so on and so forth.
In the book of Daniel, we discover two very interesting predictions about the changes.”God changes times and seasons; (Daniel 2:20) the most powerful realities on earth are time and seasons and the most predictable truth on Earth is Change. Everything in Creation God design to experience natural change, nothing remains the same.
Beyond doubt there will be a massive change in 2014. There will be political, legal, social, cultural, ideological, moral, religious, scientific, technological, spiritual, climatic and environmental changes will occur in every Nations. Change is the greatest Challenge of our time. However, God does not Change. One thing is certain, the Scriptures make a distinction between the “temporal” and the “Eternal.” Paul says that the things that are seen are “temporal” but the things not seen are “eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). “Time” clearly does not relate to God and man in the same way. In describing God, the psalmist declares: “. . . from everlasting to everlasting, you are God . . .” (Psa. 90:2). Eternity is endless, but time is measured by a “beginning” and an “end.” Bible says " To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: “(Ecclesiastes 3:1) these words are words for every person, in every place, in every circumstance.
The two words here--season and time--imply duration and a point in time. Because everything has a season, nothing (at least on earth) lasts forever. God has appointed a "season" for everything. Seasons have beginnings and endings. They last, but not too long. In the life cycle there is a season for conception and growth, a season for childhood and youth, a season for middle age and a season for old age, followed by death. It's all quite natural; it's all ordained by God. The word translated "time" means "a point in time." Within any give season, there is a point in time in which God has ordained everything to happen. So season means a period of time and time means a point in time. Every activity of mankind has a proper time and a predetermined duration. Our lives will be a lot less stressful if we recognize that the omniscient hand of God has appointed a time when things are to be done, and He has a predetermined duration for those things to last. God has appointed the times and seasons, the events of our lives, the happy and the sad, the easy and the difficult. On one hand this can bring worry, but on the other hand, it should bring you hope because we know that God is in control.
Why does Solomon say a time to every purpose? The answer is found in verse 11: "He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time." When we commit our times and seasons to God, at the appropriate point in time, God will make everything to fulfill the purpose fit into the season of our life. The word translated "beautiful" doesn't mean "lovely" or "pretty." It means “mature” "fitting," "appropriate" or "proper." There is a fitting point in time that God has determined something should happen. Accordingly, God will never be late and He'll never be early. Furthermore, He knows the proper duration for that event. He never holds it over too long or cuts it off too short. He knows exactly the number of days He's given to you, and nobody can shorten those days; nobody can lengthen them either. Our times and seasons are in God's hand. And what we entrust to God's hand, God makes "proper" in its time.
So what does that mean--God makes everything fitting or proper in its own time? Consider the next verse Ecclesiastes 3:2 as an example: "A time to be born, and a time to die." Is it possible that God can make even death beautiful in its time? He can. At the proper time, God makes death fitting. He makes it appropriate. He makes it proper. There is a time for us to be born--a day in which God determines we will be born--and there's also a day in which God determines that our life on this side of the grave will end. Whether God chooses to take us to Himself through the blessing of death or the blessed hope, in God's plan we end up being with Him forever. The day when we die is simply another day to commit to a loving and omniscient God. The day of our death is, in His hands, every bit as wonderful as the day of our birth. When you live and die in the knowledge of God's eternal plan, you live and die with this confidence--God makes all things beautiful in its time.
There are four kind of change we all will face in life
1. Change that happens to us: change that affects our personal lives, families, career and so forth.
2. Change that happens around us: change that affects our society, nation, or world and that also has some impact on us personally or on our way of life.
3. Change that happens within us: change that directly affects who we are; either physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.
4. Change that happens through us: change by deliberate plans we have initiated in order to move from the current to an ideal future.
No matter whatever area it may be we are bombarded with change from every direction. The fear of rapid change is gigantic today as many people see the changes going on in the world around us and are worried and anxious. Most people can handle a certain amount of change. The problem is we are increasingly being overloaded with more change than we can handle. Major changes in communications and information technology; great and rapid progress in transportation; international institutions and agreements; strong commitments to globalization, etc., have resulted to a significant Economic and Financial interconnectedness between Nations and Markets, which in effect have created a borderless world .Capital, Technology, and Information do not have nationalities anymore. As a result we are more closely interrelated with and interdependent on other people than ever before. Therefore, each of us, whatever our role, has to be more aware of other people as we initiate and adopt change, because they, these other people, can either help or hinder our ability to succeed by their cooperation or resistance. We want them to come on board.
A popular song has the refrain, "may all your days be happy and bright." Such is the wish of all who live. It would be nice if there were no days of stress, worry, illness, poverty and death. Reality, though, quickly destroys such a dream.
The pressures for change are coming from every direction: for example a Crisis is also an Opportunity to Change. The word “crisis” comes from the Greek and means “turning point in a disease.” So a crisis is truly an opportunity for a turning point in our lives. However, most people don’t realize their crises as an opportunity and so the opportunity is lost. We are programmed by our society to think of crises as something bad and to avoid at all costs. But in every crisis there is a hidden power and potential for Spiritual growth and healing. The loss of a job is a potential turning point in a new career. The loss of a loved one is an opportunity to put God before relationships, and the loss of inner peace is an opportunity to realize that a peaceful mind creates a peaceful world. So, start looking at all the crises in your life, big and small, as opportunities for growth and as a chance to change direction in our life.
Ecclesiastes 11:8 says “Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.”
The writer begins this passage by calling our attention to the light—the pleasantness of the light. I am sure that we all enjoy light. There is something about darkness that is depressing. There are going to be some disappointments, some troubles, some grief’s to be borne, sorrows you will meet with, tears you will shed. If we live many years here, yet eternity is a lot longer than that. First, we all will have "days of darkness." We simply will not and cannot avoid those days of darkness. This is an undeniable fact. So, what should we do with this information? We should use it to our advantage. The saying is true with says, "Forewarned, forearmed!" If we know, in advance, that we will have "days of darkness," then first we’re not surprised or caught off guard by it. second we had enough time to mentally prepare for those days of trouble ( 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:12-13; 5:8); Third we can use those days to equip ourselves a stronger person ( Jas. 1:2-4; Rom. 5:1-4).
Jesus said, "Unless you 'repent' [change your mind and turn around], you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:2) Repent means that you must "change your thinking" and "turn away from your old ways", and that is hear and believe as: "faith [comes] by hearing -- and hearing, by the word of God."(Romans 10:17) "How shall one believe unless he is taught?"Jesus said, "...blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and do it."(Luke 11:27, 28) You will be blessed by following the words of Jesus Christ the Lord; to do them...Becoming a Christian requires change. We must remove old habits and develop new ones. God's word is the best source of guidance for self-help and motivation for self-improvement. Have you ever had difficulty trying to change a habit? Human beings are creatures of habit. We tend to continue acting as we have acted in the past. Like a river flowing through a canyon, the longer a habit continues, the more deeply it becomes ingrained, and the harder it is to change. This is true of all habits, good or bad. Knowing what changes to make is not enough. We also need to know how to make them. We must also eliminate bad habits like foul language, uncontrolled temper, gambling, drugs, smoking, drinking, gossip, lying, pornography, sexual promiscuity, etc.
Finally remember that though all our circumstances and friends may change — there is one person who never changes! "He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does whatever He pleases!" Job 23:13. With Him is no variableness. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever — and He is our best Friend, our nearest relation, our gracious Savior! Yesterday — His name was Jesus; His nature was love; His purpose was to do us good with His whole heart and soul. Today — He is the same; if we are walking humbly with Him. He will be our God — and we shall be His people! So Let us cultivate . . . intimacy with Him, dependence upon Him, concern to please Him, fear to offend Him, zeal to glorify Him; then it must be well with us in health and sickness, in plenty and poverty, in life and death! For He is the same, and will never turn away from doing us good .
God bless
