Recognize Which Season You Are In (Ecclesiastes 3)
Do you feel stuck in a season that seems to drag on? Life shifts through joy, stress, excitement, and stillness but God remains faithful in all.
Ecclesiastes 3
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
Have you ever noticed that life contains many seasons?
Some are short, and some are long. Some are stressful, and others are joyful. Some are exciting, and others are more mundane. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says,
1 There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to give birth and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build;
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;
6 a time to search and a time to count as lost;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to be silent and a time to speak;
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
In these verses, the preacher of Ecclesiastes uses a rhetorical literary device called merismus. This involves expressing a whole by mentioning its parts and typically uses contrasting or complementary elements to signify a broader concept. Iain Provan writes, “The first pair of opposites is the most all-embracing as far as human life is concerned, and it connects chapter 3 especially with the closing part of chapter 2.” Provan continues by pointing out that “Aside from the placement of this first pair, however, there is no discernible purpose to the overall order in which the opposites are placed; they simply represent various aspects of human life between the two poles of birth and death, although they are often clustered together in groups in suggestive ways.”[1]
Using these fourteen contrasting activities, the author offers a descriptive idea “of what actually happens under heaven.”[2] Life isn’t all the same. One day might look completely different from the one before. Michael Eaton writes, “The function of this section is to call us to a view of God’s sovereignty which both reassures and yet sobers the reader. It reassures because of God’s control; yet it sobers because God’s control remains mysterious.”[3]
A Meditation to PRAY
Praise | Lord, I praise you for the seasons of life you have ordained, each with its own purpose and beauty. You have created a time for everything under heaven, and I acknowledge your sovereignty over every moment. I rejoice in knowing your timing is always perfect, even when I don't fully understand it.
Release | I release my need to control or understand every season of my life. I often struggle with transitions and unknowns, but I trust that you are guiding me through each phase with wisdom and love. Help me let go of the anxiety that comes with uncertainty and rest in your divine plan.
