1 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:04,680 Well, hey, good evening. Thank you guys for being here 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,080 for Renewed Mind Bible Studies. We're going to go and get 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:08,520 started because we're on the live stream. 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:10,760 And if you are watching us on the live stream, just keep in 5 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,800 mind that when we're done with the teaching portion, we'll go 6 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:14,720 ahead and we'll cut the feed. Then if you're here in person, 7 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,560 we do table discussion and then we've got acoustic worship to 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,120 end the night, which I'm excited for. 9 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,080 Happy April Fool's Day, I guess. Yeah. 10 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,720 Anyway, thanks for coming. No, I'm, I'm just kidding. 11 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:31,640 Today we're going to cover a whole chapter. 12 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,640 We're going to cover Ecclesiastes chapter 3. 13 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,360 And next week we're actually going to go over three different 14 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,840 chapters in Ecclesiastes, but we won't go over every single line 15 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,440 of every single chapter. What you'll see is that the book 16 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,480 of Ecclesiastes starts to shift and instead of it being these 17 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:52,120 very in depth individual parts, some of it becomes repetitive in 18 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:53,720 in a purpose. And we're going to highlight 19 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,920 that and show what matters. But today, as we're talking 20 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,240 about a new flavour of chasing the wind, every week we're 21 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,120 talking about a different way that we chase the wind. 22 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:03,920 This this week is about chasing control. 23 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,360 Anybody here who admits they have control issues? 24 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,680 Wow. I guess we flocked together, 25 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,280 don't we? Although bonus points to you, 26 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,640 Heather, because I don't feel like I finished saying it when 27 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,640 you were you were ready. You're like, I already know. 28 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,320 Well, the last week was chasing achievement, and achievement 29 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:27,240 can't carry the weight that we place on it, even though it's a 30 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,720 good thing. We know that work matters, but 31 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,840 it doesn't answer the ultimate questions of life. 32 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,400 And so this week, the teacher takes us directly into control. 33 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:42,000 If you can't control the outcome, maybe you can control 34 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,240 the process. This is the thought that a lot 35 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,720 of us have had in some form before we started to wonder, 36 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,120 well, maybe the key to peace is just learning how to manage life 37 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,720 better. Maybe we need to learn how to 38 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,440 time things correctly or make the right moves or stay ahead of 39 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,800 problems or hold everything together. 40 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,360 A lot of people say it this way, but they're trying to gain some 41 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,200 level of control over what happens next. 42 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,960 I used to pride myself on this and I used to tell Cassie when 43 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:08,800 we were first dating like this is, this is what I do. 44 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,000 I want to make sure that I'm, I'm prepared for everything. 45 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,000 And I, I would even tell her it's, it's like my mind. 46 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,080 I want it to be like Batman's utility belt, in specific, the 47 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,960 utility belt from the 1960s. Batman, that brother had bat 48 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,400 dental floss and a bat fly swatter in his belt. 49 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,720 He was ready for anything. Guys, that's an awful way to 50 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,160 live. It's an awful way to live. 51 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,160 You spend so much time preparing for situations that you're never 52 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,000 going to face. Some of them you will, and when 53 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,920 you do face one of them, you'll justify why you prepare for all 54 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,680 the other ones that you might. This is called anxiety. 55 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,120 Anxiety is a constant fear of what may or what will happen. 56 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,760 And you prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, even 57 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,040 physically sometimes for things that never manifest. 58 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,400 And so I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but the 59 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:01,880 problem is that life does not always cooperate. 60 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,080 And so in in, in this, I would just try to teach you that there 61 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,640 are seasons that we would all choose to go differently, right? 62 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,760 Are there not moments for all of us that arrive too early or too 63 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:14,720 late? Sometimes there's situations 64 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,480 that we can't fix and circumstances we can't change. 65 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,720 And whenever life begins to move outside of what we can manage, 66 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,120 it really shows just how much we were relying on control to give 67 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,320 us peace. Jesus spoke about this in 68 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,600 Matthew 6. I'm just going to read you from 69 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,960 six starting in verse 25. Jesus says that is why I tell 70 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,600 you not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough 71 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:39,840 food or drink enough clothes to wear. 72 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,720 Isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? 73 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 I mean, it is, but not if you watch the commercials. 74 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,040 He said look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or 75 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,000 store food in barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them 76 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,280 and aren't you more valuable to Him than they are? 77 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,280 I'm afraid we read over that line much too fast. 78 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:01,880 In case you are curious or nobody's told you. 79 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,600 You are much more valuable to him than the birds that he also 80 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,480 takes care of, he says. Can all your worries add a 81 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,440 single moment to your life? Actually, scientifically 82 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,400 speaking, I don't have time to give you the stats, but it 83 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,040 actually takes time away from your life. 84 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:18,800 So he says, why worry about your clothing? 85 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,760 Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. 86 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:22,360 They don't work or make their clothing. 87 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,400 And Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as 88 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,920 they are. And if God cares so wonderfully 89 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,600 for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire 90 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,320 tomorrow, He'll certainly care for you. 91 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:34,680 Why do you have so little faith? Guys? 92 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,320 I just want to draw the connection here. 93 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:41,520 Whenever we long or lust for control, we have little faith. 94 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,440 We want to take the control out of His hands. 95 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,040 We don't have faith that He's going to do the things that He 96 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,120 says he's going to or if he makes a decision that we 97 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,120 wouldn't make, that it's ultimately good for us. 98 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,800 And he says, so don't worry about these things saying what 99 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:58,480 will eat we eat, what will we drink? 100 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,600 What will we wear? These things dominate the 101 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,800 thoughts of unbelievers. But your Heavenly Father already 102 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,440 knows your needs. And then comes the famous part. 103 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,440 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously 104 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:12,840 and he'll give you everything you need. 105 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:14,960 And then he says, so don't worry about tomorrow. 106 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:16,520 Tomorrow will bring its own worries. 107 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,600 Today's trouble is enough for today. 108 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,840 Jesus would never dismiss responsibility, but his words do 109 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:26,240 challenge our sense of control. They remind us that peace is not 110 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:28,520 found in managing everything around us, but entrusting the 111 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,520 One who holds all things together when we just can't. 112 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,760 And so at the beginning of Ecclesiastes 3, the 1st 8 113 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:38,640 verses, I'm calling it a time for everything. 114 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,480 I mentioned it last week, but there was a very famous song by 115 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,760 the birds. It was called What? 116 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,440 Anybody remember Turn and basically ripped off 117 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:49,800 Ecclesiastes and got away with it? 118 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:52,840 Here's what it says in the 1st 8 verses. 119 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:54,880 For everything there is a season. 120 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:56,920 A time for every activity under heaven. 121 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:59,480 A time to be born and a time to die. 122 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,560 A time to plant and a time to harvest. 123 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:05,320 A time to kill and a time to heal. 124 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,480 A time to tear down and a time to build up. 125 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,920 A time to cry and a time to laugh. 126 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,840 A time to grieve and a time to dance. 127 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,720 This one used to confuse me. A time to scatter stones and a 128 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,240 time to gather stones. The reason that used to confuse 129 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,400 me is I always thought, why would you scatter stones? 130 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,680 And in case you're curious, it's not in my notes or yours. 131 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,160 Scattering stones was a way of stopping things from growing. 132 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:32,600 So sometimes if you wanted to maintain a field, if you're 133 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,880 trying to stop something from growing, you had to scatter the 134 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,920 stones out there so that it wouldn't grow. 135 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,000 But if you did want to till the ground, if you did want to grow 136 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:40,120 something, guess what you had to do? 137 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:42,920 You had to gather them. Do you want to feed something 138 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:44,840 that's growing in your life, or do you not want to? 139 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,520 It goes on to say a time to embrace and a time to turn away. 140 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,200 A time to search and a time to quit searching. 141 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:53,920 A time to keep and a time to throw away. 142 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,080 A time to tear and a time to mend. 143 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,400 A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 144 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,560 A time to love and a time to hate. 145 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,160 A time for war and a time for peace. 146 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,480 Well, the teacher starts this chapter with poetic words, I 147 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,920 mean, but they carry more reality than we often realize. 148 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,800 When he's talking about the seasons, that statement can 149 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,720 sound comforting. We'll say this a lot of times. 150 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:21,680 If it's a bad one, we say, well, it's just a season. 151 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,480 If it's a good one, we say, I'm really trying to enjoy this 152 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,000 season. But really what he's trying to 153 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,480 show us is the fact that life has a rhythm in order. 154 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,520 There is a time for everything. So as the list unfolds, it 155 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,720 becomes clear that it's actually an honest description of how 156 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,560 life actually works, how life actually works. 157 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,800 That word that's translated a season is the Hebrew word Zaman, 158 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,720 and it means an appointed time, an appointed time that means 159 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,240 something that is set or determined. 160 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,040 It's not random. It's not accidental. 161 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,760 I understand that we live in North Carolina, right? 162 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,040 But if you woke up tomorrow and there was snow, you'd feel like 163 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,840 something's off. I mean, that was so two months 164 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:05,160 ago, right? But it's not like every day 165 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,040 there's a random shuffler on the weather. 166 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,880 Seasons come and seasons go. So this is something talking 167 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,480 about it's it's appointed, and the teacher's starting to list 168 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:16,040 some of these times he pairs opposites together 169 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,240 intentionally, like birth and death, planting and harvesting, 170 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,160 weeping and laughing. Each pair really does reflect a 171 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:24,800 different part of the human experience. 172 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,680 If you haven't experienced everything on this list, and I 173 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,240 know of at least one thing that you haven't yet, you will. 174 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,760 I mean, who goes through life without laughter and weeping? 175 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:36,720 It? It's just something that 176 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,320 happens. And so that rhythm feels 177 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,280 structured and it feels predictable. 178 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,640 Some of them are joyful, some of them are painful. 179 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,120 And we all have moments that we would hold on to longer and 180 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:48,920 moments we'd skip completely if we could. 181 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,000 But that word that's translated as time throughout the passage 182 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,080 is also significant. It comes from the Hebrew word 183 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,960 8th ETH. It's pronounced 8th, and it 184 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:01,800 describes a specific moment or occasion. 185 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,720 Not time in general, but the right time. 186 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,040 It's talking about the right time. 187 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,600 We would compare this to maybe the word Kairos in the Greek in 188 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,920 the New Testament. But this is the right time or 189 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,480 the fitting time. And he's trying to teach us that 190 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,040 life is not a random collection of events. 191 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,520 It's actually made-up of moments that all carry their own place 192 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,600 and purpose, even if you don't fully understand them, or maybe 193 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,360 especially if you don't fully understand them. 194 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,800 Because as the list continues, it becomes clear that the 195 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,720 teachers not just describing events, he's talking about 196 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,000 different struggles as well. Why? 197 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,040 Because who here has a green thumb? 198 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:37,960 Who loves to do the garden stuff anyway, right? 199 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,400 So to plant requires patience, does it not? 200 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,800 You got to be patient if you're going to do that. 201 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,480 To harvest requires you to be ready because you can't just 202 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,120 leave it there and say, I'll get it next week. 203 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,200 What happens to the crop if you don't harvest it when it's 204 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,240 ready? Starts rotting, falls apart, and 205 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,240 so to weep means you have to actually acknowledge loss and 206 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,120 not disassociate. Sorry, I wasn't meaning to come 207 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,880 for you. To laugh means to celebrate joy, 208 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,000 but when you laugh you're also vulnerable. 209 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,080 To embrace means you draw people close, and turning away also 210 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:14,880 creates distance. There's a time for both. 211 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:17,800 So they're not really contradictions, they're just 212 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,400 realities that exist side by side. 213 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,720 And so this is where, if you let it, Scripture really begins to 214 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:23,960 challenge the way that you think. 215 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,320 And I told you this on night one, I've never looked at 216 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,800 Ecclesiastes the way that I look at it now that I've spent some 217 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,680 deep time really studying it and praying through it. 218 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,440 Scripture will really challenge you at any time. 219 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,320 Most people want to live only on one side of this list. 220 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,600 We want to rush getting through weeping so we can get back to 221 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,040 laughing. We want to rush getting through 222 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,320 the planting so we can get to the harvesting. 223 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,600 But they're both important. And if you don't get what you 224 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,000 need to from the season, sometimes the season gets 225 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,120 extended. Renewing our minds means we have 226 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,280 to learn to accept that we are not in control of the seasons. 227 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,360 We can only respond to them. We can only respond to them. 228 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,200 And yeah, that might be a bummer for you to hear right now, but I 229 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,120 would just also tell you it should be a relief. 230 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,360 You don't have any more responsibility than to respond 231 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,000 to the seasons that you find yourself in. 232 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:15,240 You can walk through them wisely. 233 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,040 You just can't force them to arrive early or delay their 234 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,600 departure. The struggle that most people 235 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,040 encounter is when we resist the season that we're in, whenever 236 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,760 we wish that we were somewhere else or somewhere easier or 237 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,880 somewhere more comfortable. So just as we wrap up this first 238 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:33,840 section, remember this. The goal is not to control the 239 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,480 seasons, but it is to recognize them. 240 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,840 You have to recognize them. It's in a different scripture in 241 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,360 the New Testament, but they talked about how people knew the 242 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,440 signs of the times. And we'll be talking about that 243 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:47,760 before you know it here on a Sunday. 244 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,400 But we have to recognize the seasons to understand where we 245 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,800 are and respond the right way and and trust that there really 246 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,520 is a bigger order at work. So the teacher's explaining that 247 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,880 these seasons happen, but he's not explaining why he's not 248 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:02,480 qualified to, and neither are we. 249 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:04,880 He's just reminding us that they do happen. 250 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,880 Couple personal insight questions for you there, and 251 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:09,280 we'll move on to the second section. 252 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,960 So this is the tension of time, verses 9 through 13. 253 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,120 It's the tension of time. Well, now he's going to start 254 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,240 sounding familiar again to the first two chapters. 255 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:20,600 What do people really get for all their hard work? 256 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:23,440 I've seen the burden God has placed on us all. 257 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,040 Yeah, God has made everything beautiful for its own time. 258 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:28,280 You ever seen that in Hobby Lobby? 259 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,240 You didn't see the first part, though, did you? 260 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,080 I have seen the burden that God has placed on us all. 261 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:36,880 Put that over your kitchen table. 262 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,400 Somebody's going to. He's planted. 263 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,200 Listen, He's planted eternity in the human heart. 264 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,320 But Even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work 265 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,400 from beginning to end. You ever wonder if that's part 266 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,840 of why we feel dissatisfied that we have eternity in our heart, 267 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:54,920 but we still can't see all of God's creation. 268 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:56,240 We can't make sense of all of it. 269 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,600 There's a longing to be one with eternity, isn't there? 270 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,280 He says in verse 12. So I concluded that there's 271 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,720 nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as 272 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,480 we can. And people should eat and drink 273 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,920 and enjoy the fruits of their labour, for these are gifts from 274 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,440 God. So he's laid out the rhythm of 275 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,600 seasons at the beginning, and then he pauses and asks that 276 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,120 question that sounds like the first couple chapters. 277 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,000 What do we really get for all of our hard work? 278 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,240 That's the same question that's been echoing and it's not the 279 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:21,320 last time you're going to hear it. 280 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,160 But he answers it when he says, I've seen the burden God has 281 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:27,760 placed on us all. That word burden, it's the 282 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:32,120 Hebrew word inon, and it means an occupation or a task or 283 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,600 something that occupies a person's life, occupies a 284 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,960 person's life. So it's not necessarily even a 285 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:42,320 hardship. It's just something that's 286 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:48,320 there. Actually, I'm planning to share 287 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,480 this is very small, but we were staying at a family member's 288 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,240 house this weekend and they had this sign that says home sweet 289 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,760 home. And I was looking at it and I 290 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,240 looked at Cassie and I said, do you think they know that there's 291 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,360 no T in that sign? And when we looked at it, it 292 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:06,920 says home sweet home. And when we when we asked her, 293 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,000 she goes, that was with the house when I bought it. 294 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,480 It was just already there, right? 295 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:12,760 A lot of things, they're just already there. 296 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,480 They occupy space in our life. It's neither good nor bad, but 297 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:16,160 they're there. OK. 298 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:18,840 That's what burden means. It's not speaking about general 299 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,240 hardship, just the weight of being human, living, working, 300 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:22,720 thinking. All these things are part of our 301 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,560 experience. And so then the teacher says 302 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,920 something that kind of feels surprising after everything that 303 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,400 he's been describing, after saying I've seen the burden that 304 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,720 God places on us all. He says everything is beautiful 305 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,360 for it's own time. But the word beautiful comes 306 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,880 from the Hebrew word yafei, which carries the whole idea of 307 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,520 something that is fitting or appropriate or well placed. 308 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,240 So this is not like a physical beauty. 309 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,480 This is more like when something you know works, you, you turn 310 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,000 the right wrench and the engine starts or you know, you, you see 311 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,840 your kids or your loved ones succeed and you say beautiful. 312 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,160 It's appropriate. It's fitting for the moment, and 313 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,280 it carries the idea of something appropriate. 314 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,760 So teachers not saying every moment feels beautiful while 315 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:08,280 we're in it. He's saying that every season 316 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,200 has a place in the larger picture we don't see. 317 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,840 And then he starts talking about that eternity in the human 318 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,040 heart. The word for eternity is olam, 319 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,040 which really talks about something that's beyond time. 320 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:20,680 And this was the goal that we talked about early on in this 321 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:22,800 study, right, is that we don't want to just see everything 322 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:24,440 that's under the sun. We want to be able to see what 323 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,480 is beyond the sun, not just the things that are temporal that we 324 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,640 understand. So this talks about something 325 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,120 that is beyond time, something that stretches past what we can 326 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,440 measure or fully grasp. But here's the problem. 327 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,520 When you long for something that is beyond your grasp, that 328 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,000 longing creates a lot of dissatisfaction. 329 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,480 While we're here on Earth, how many of us have had a season 330 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,000 where we look back and we say, I should have done more, I should 331 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,760 have said more, I should have been more present. 332 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,560 Why did I open my mouth? We all look back and we say, I 333 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,600 can't undo these things, but I wish there's a dissatisfaction 334 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,560 because we don't see all of it. Here's your next blank. 335 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:05,120 We live inside time. We live inside of time, but we 336 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:06,880 were created with a sense of eternity. 337 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,680 So we experience moments, but we long for something that's 338 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,760 lasting, and we want to understand how it all fits 339 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:15,840 together. But the teacher says you can't. 340 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,800 He says literally, you can't see the whole scope of God's work 341 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,440 from the beginning to the end. There's a gap between what we 342 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,440 desire to know and what we're able to see. 343 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,000 And you'll never be satisfied in that capacity. 344 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,520 Sorry. This is where the human struggle 345 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:35,000 with control often comes from. So, control freaks, we've 346 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,800 arrived. We want to understand. 347 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,000 We want to understand the timing. 348 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,200 We want to understand the purpose. 349 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,680 We want to know the outcome of what we're walking through. 350 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,720 But instead, you and I are asked to live in the middle of the 351 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:49,400 story without seeing the whole picture. 352 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:54,240 Maybe you got a favorite movie. Would it be your favorite movie 353 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,520 if you had only seen the 15 minutes in the middle of it? 354 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,360 Maybe. But you'd have some questions. 355 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,040 You'd have some questions, and so you're being asked to live in 356 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:06,839 the middle of the story without seeing all of it. 357 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,000 Faith is hard, isn't it? It's a struggle, and the teacher 358 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,280 doesn't resolve it for us, but at least he acknowledges it. 359 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,040 Some of us, we struggle because we don't know how things are 360 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,000 going to work out, and some of us struggle because we don't 361 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,960 know why things were the way that they were. 362 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:23,480 But we're right here in the middle. 363 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,119 So instead of trying to solve the mystery, the teacher just 364 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:27,920 shifts towards a response. And he says, I concluded, 365 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,720 there's nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves. 366 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:33,560 It's important. And I, I do want to say this, I 367 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:35,240 mean, we're about to be at Resurrection Sunday. 368 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:36,840 We're going to be celebrating this Sunday. 369 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,520 And it's important that we as believers grab a hold of this 370 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,360 recognition that the ability to enjoy life and to receive the 371 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:45,040 moments that he brings you with gratitude. 372 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:49,840 It is not something you create. It's something that God gives, 373 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:52,840 something that God gives. Think about the day you gave 374 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,800 your life to the Lord. Think about a time that you saw 375 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:56,200 somebody else give your life to the Lord. 376 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:57,880 If you're married, think about your wedding day. 377 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,080 If you're happy about your wedding day, if it's your kids, 378 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,040 if you like your kids, think about the day they're born. 379 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,240 I'm being silly with it, but all of these beautiful moments, 380 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:07,640 beautiful and appropriate for the time they were all gifts and 381 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,760 all given to you from the Lord. So if you feel dissatisfied, 382 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:13,760 here would just be some pastoral advice in the middle of the 383 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,640 Bible study. Genuinely, if you feel 384 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,480 dissatisfied in an area of life, start asking God for the ability 385 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,120 to receive moments with gratitude. 386 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,000 Instead of sitting there and saying, why can't I be grateful? 387 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,880 What's wrong with me? That'll get you good places. 388 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,240 Ask God to give you the ability to receive moments with 389 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,760 gratitude. I'm speaking from experience. 390 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,480 Personally, I find it a relief to know that this too is not 391 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,840 something I can do on my own. Enjoying the fruit of our work 392 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,520 is a gift from God. Enjoying the fruit of your work 393 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,040 is a gift from God. So it's OK that you're excited 394 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,280 when the paycheck comes in. It's OK if you go to a nice 395 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,480 restaurant. It's OK if something that you 396 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,800 worked hard on pays off It's a gift. 397 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:57,800 And by the way, that word gift is also intentional. 398 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,400 It just reminds us that it's not something we force out of life 399 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,080 by understanding it. It can only be received. 400 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:04,640 That's the only thing you can do with a gift. 401 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,080 The teacher still doesn't remove the mystery, but at least he 402 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:09,440 teaches us how to live within it. 403 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,160 The the third section is called God is in Control. 404 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,080 If you've been a believer for a certain length of time, then 405 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:18,920 maybe you remember that song by Twila Paris. 406 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:26,120 No, OK, me neither. Verses 14 and 15 say this, and I 407 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:28,760 know that whatever God does is final. 408 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:31,800 Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. 409 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,520 God's purpose is that people should fear Him. 410 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,000 What's happening now has happened before, and what will 411 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,760 happen in the future has already happened before because God 412 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,200 makes the same things happen over and over again. 413 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,480 That's encouraging. So we talked about time and the 414 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,600 limits of understanding. And the teacher starts to remind 415 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,000 us of something that we should always keep at the forefront of 416 00:19:58,000 --> 00:19:59,640 our mind. For the first time in this 417 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,120 chapter, he shifts away from what we can't control and 418 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:05,320 towards what God does control. So this is an important turn in 419 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,080 Chapter 3. There's this sense of confidence 420 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,840 in those words because he says. And I know after all the 421 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,240 questions and struggles, the teacher finally says something 422 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,160 we should all recognize. Whatever God does is final. 423 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,160 Whatever God does is final. Who likes a time travel movie? 424 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,600 Who hates a time travel movie? Yeah. 425 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:27,600 Nobody cares. Got it. 426 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,720 So God's not going to time travel. 427 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,960 He's not going to go back and redo things. 428 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,800 What he does is final. And so that's important to know 429 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:37,880 because what God does is not temporary. 430 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,280 It's not subject to revision. There's no God's will 2.0 It's 431 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,200 just complete in a way that our human effort never is. 432 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,560 We never feel like we've worked enough, done enough, loved 433 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,760 enough, saved enough. But God doesn't suffer from the 434 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,800 same thing. Human work is always something 435 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,960 that has to be adjusted or improved or corrected. 436 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,640 But what God does stands as is. And that should speak directly 437 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,280 to all of our desire for control. 438 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:06,360 All of our desire for control. A lot of our stress comes from 439 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:08,120 the belief that everything depends on us. 440 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,360 And while most of us wouldn't verbalize that and tell another 441 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,400 human being that everything depends on us, we act like it. 442 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,560 We feel like if we don't manage it, fix it, hold it together, 443 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,560 it's just going to fall apart. And the teacher reminds us that 444 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,040 there is a greater reality at work. 445 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:26,640 God is not reacting to life like we do. 446 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,280 He's the one that establishes it right. 447 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,040 So that phrase, God's purpose is that people should fear him, 448 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,840 believe it or not, has this layer where it's all wrapped up 449 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,280 in this one word, which is fear. And that comes from the Hebrew 450 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:42,320 word yaray it. It doesn't mean simply like 451 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,760 fear, like being afraid. How many of you all remember 452 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:46,280 that? It says in another place in 453 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:50,000 Scripture that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 454 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,800 It's the beginning of wisdom and that doesn't mean shaking in 455 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,040 your boots. This carries the idea of 456 00:21:55,040 --> 00:22:00,160 reverence or awe. That's AWE and recognizing God 457 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,960 for who He truly is. It's a position of a heart when 458 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,320 you understand how great He is. And that was purpose are so much 459 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:11,200 greater than ours. In other words, when you begin 460 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,160 to see that God really is control, then the right response 461 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,200 is not anxiety. And I say this as somebody who 462 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:21,480 still has anxiety come and go, but every time I have anxiety, I 463 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,000 remind myself my faith isn't in the driver's seat. 464 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,880 If I really feel like God's in control of it, then the right 465 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:28,880 response is not going to be anxiety. 466 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,360 It's going to be reverence. It's going to be, I cannot wait 467 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:36,080 to see what God makes of this. I have no clue what the Lord is 468 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,280 doing here, but thankfully He does. 469 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,280 And so I know this because when I'm anxious, I know I'm not 470 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,080 filled with faith. But verse 15 brings us back to 471 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,400 something familiar from the seasons where he says what's 472 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:49,840 happening now has happened before. 473 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,560 It's spring again and we're complaining about the pollen. 474 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,480 But didn't we do this dance last year? 475 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,840 I mean, and it's going to happen again next year until the day 476 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,280 that the pollen takes me to the grave. 477 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:04,040 Life moves in rhythms. Seasons repeat. 478 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,600 You don't weep once and laugh once during life. 479 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,600 It's probably going to happen over and over again. 480 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:11,600 But when he says this, when he says makes it happen, it's from 481 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,640 a Hebrew word, bakash. It means this sense of like 482 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:19,040 seeking out or requiring, requiring or bringing something 483 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,960 forward again. And the idea is that there's an 484 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,160 intentional movement with God's oversight. 485 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,720 When the spring comes, it's because it's supposed to come 486 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:28,800 again. And as much as I dread the 487 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,280 pollen, I'm grateful for the warmth. 488 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,000 And one day I'll be so sick of the warmth, and I'll be grateful 489 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,600 for it to be cool. I love the six days of fall that 490 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,480 we have every year, but what feels repetitive to us is not 491 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,360 meaningless to the Lord. It's part of a pattern that God 492 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:46,200 see, God sees fully, even if we don't. 493 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:49,800 So this is where the teacher really challenges our need for 494 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,320 control. Because we're not the ones 495 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,920 holding everything together. We're not the ones determining 496 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,160 the outcome of every season. There's a greater hand at work 497 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,080 that is shaping things we don't understand. 498 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,920 And our role is not to control things, but to walk faithfully 499 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,040 in what God is already doing. So the teacher is reminding us 500 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,400 that the story is not ours to control. 501 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,800 It is not ours to control. And this is important, but it is 502 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:18,040 also not out of control either. Yeah, I tricked you. 503 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,480 I gave you the same word. It's not ours to control, but 504 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,400 it's not out of control. And I think sometimes we need to 505 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,960 hear that because when it feels like it's not in our control, it 506 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:28,280 feels out of control, doesn't it? 507 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,280 All right. Section 4, The problem of 508 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:37,480 injustice. You will not be a Christian for 509 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,920 long without struggling with this, he says. 510 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,360 I've also noticed under the sun that there's evil in the 511 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,560 courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are 512 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,520 corrupt. Apparently that was a problem 513 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:53,680 back then. He's he's sorry. 514 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,880 I can normally keep a straight face, he says. 515 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,160 I said to myself, in due season, God will judge everyone both 516 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:01,760 good and bad for all their deeds. 517 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,840 I also thought about the human condition, how God proves to 518 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:06,760 people that they are like animals. 519 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,520 As a youth pastor for a long time I can confirm. 520 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,440 But just when it feels like the teacher has given us something 521 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,200 that's really solid to hold onto, the God is in control that 522 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,040 his work stands. Then he looks up again around 523 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:25,920 the world and he says bad things happen to good people, which is 524 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:27,480 kind of the way that we normally phrase it, right? 525 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,000 Why do bad things happen to good people? 526 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,600 Why do good people or innocent people die before their time? 527 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,600 And that issue is the issue of injustice. 528 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,320 The line where he talks about evil in the courtroom lands like 529 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,120 it was written today. That same place that's supposed 530 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:46,960 to represent justice and fairness and what is right is 531 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,080 filled with what is wrong. The place where truth should be 532 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,400 upheld is instead corrupted all too often. 533 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:56,240 And that word that's translated is evil comes from the word RA. 534 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,880 It just means what is wrong or harmful, or I like this 535 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:05,280 definition, morally twisted. Morally twisted. 536 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,160 The issue is not minor mistakes or occasional failures. 537 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,560 Here, when he's talking about evil, he's speaking about a 538 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,840 system that is bent in the wrong direction. 539 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:18,320 Something that should reflect order instead reflects disorder, 540 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:19,720 which is not what God represents. 541 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,640 And so in the in the previous section, we were reminded that 542 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,760 God is in control, but he's now showing another highlighter. 543 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,240 Remember when he he went from laughter to weeping and from 544 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,000 birth to death and had all these opposites? 545 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,280 Well, now he's done this with concepts because he said God is 546 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,400 the one who's truly in control of everything, but also there's 547 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,280 evil here on this earth and it's out of control. 548 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:41,880 And So what are we supposed to make of this? 549 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,280 Well, he says to himself that in due season, God will judge 550 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,800 everyone. Pay special attention to that 551 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,600 phrase in due season because the same idea of time that we saw 552 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,360 earlier returns here. That Hebrew word 8th again 553 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:59,400 points to a specific, specific appointed time. 554 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,720 And so the teacher is not saying justice doesn't exist. 555 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,480 He's saying it doesn't always happen when we expect it. 556 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:08,960 It doesn't always happen when we expect it. 557 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,360 Have you ever thought somebody's going to get away with something 558 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:13,800 and then you watched it hit them and you were like, oh, they 559 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,520 didn't get away with it. Let me ask a better question of 560 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:17,760 Christians. Have you ever thought you got 561 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:22,000 away with something and then something happened and you went, 562 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,240 man, I thought it was God's mercy. 563 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,840 His justice felt delayed to me, but it was right on time. 564 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,600 So this is where our faith starts to stretch here because 565 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,360 we want justice now. We want all the wrongs corrected 566 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:35,920 immediately, and we want things to be made right the moment that 567 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:37,280 we see that we're that they're wrong. 568 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,240 And this is what sometimes gets between US and God because we 569 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,720 say, well, as soon as I saw that and knew it was wrong, I wanted 570 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,600 it to be made right. Why doesn't God make it right 571 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,240 the second he sees it? He knows everything. 572 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,440 Why doesn't he fix it? The teacher is reminding us that 573 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,600 God's timing, God's timing, is not the same as ours. 574 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,120 Judgement will come, but it will come at its proper time, not 575 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,240 necessarily in our preferred time. 576 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,280 At the end, though, that's a fun line, isn't it? 577 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,240 God proves to people that they're like animals. 578 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,600 Well, at first that sounds kind of harsh, but he's using poetic 579 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,560 means to expose the limits of the human condition because that 580 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,840 word prove comes from the Hebrew word Barr. 581 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:22,200 It means to test or to refine or to make something clear. 582 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,400 And so he's saying that through life, though it has limits, it's 583 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,160 frustrations and everything. People are confronted with the 584 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,560 truth about themselves. We're not in control even though 585 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,960 we think we are. We have two cats at my house, 586 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,880 you know, when they eat. No, when we put food in the 587 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,560 bowl. Well, at least when I'm there 588 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,080 anyway. They don't have control over 589 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,920 when more food gets put into their bowl when I'm at home. 590 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,040 And so it's the same thing. He's saying we're just like 591 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:56,280 animals. We don't have control over 592 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,000 what's happening. We feel like we do because we've 593 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,560 got more understanding, but it's really just the same. 594 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:04,320 We are dependent like animals. So we have a choice. 595 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,840 When we realize this, we can either lead ourselves towards 596 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,960 frustration or humility. When we realize this, we can 597 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,520 either go towards frustration or humility. 598 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,240 God's justice will come. You just don't get to choose 599 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,680 when we have to learn to live in that not yet season without 600 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,720 losing trust in the Lord. It's actually necessary to 601 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,640 acknowledge that injustice is real and that brokenness is here 602 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:30,160 on the earth. But it also means holding on to 603 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,400 the truth that God sees both what we see and He sees what we 604 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,080 can't see. Well, the final section here, 605 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,960 it's pretty fun. It's a minor issue that has 606 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,720 caused some really heated arguments amongst people that I 607 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,680 know of. This is called the limits of 608 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,200 control. Here's what he says, verses 19 609 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,160 through 22. People and animals share the 610 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,640 same fate. Both breathe and both must die. 611 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,560 So people have no real advantage over the animals. 612 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,080 How meaningless. There's that Hevel again. 613 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:03,560 He says both go into the same place. 614 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,320 They come from the dust, and they return to the dust. 615 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,200 For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of 616 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:11,680 animals goes down into the earth? 617 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,160 So I saw that there's nothing better for people than to be 618 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:19,240 happy in their work. That is our lot in life, and no 619 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,960 one can bring us back to see what happens after we die. 620 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:29,840 I have heard this verse used to prove that animals go into 621 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,800 eternity. I have heard this verse used to 622 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:37,240 prove that they don't. It's quite a conundrum, right? 623 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,360 We'll get to it after walking through all these seasons and 624 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,160 wrestling through time. Now we're past injustice and 625 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,480 we're looking at the limits of control over life itself. 626 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,520 And the word breathe there, which we've discussed before, 627 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,920 comes from that Hebrew word ruach, which can also mean 628 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:53,640 spirit. So this is important. 629 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,440 Spirit. It's the same word used 630 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:58,560 throughout Scripture to describe the breath of life that comes 631 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,840 from God. When Adam and Eve were made, he 632 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,040 breathed the breath of life into them. 633 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,720 And the teacher is pointing out something that's pretty humbling 634 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,040 when you think about it. The life that you carry is not 635 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:13,480 self generated. Moms, dads, the lives that you 636 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,040 brought into this world weren't even completely self generated. 637 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,960 The very spark of life comes from the Lord himself. 638 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,000 And the life that we carry in that we've built for ourselves 639 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,440 is not self generated either. You did not build your dream 640 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,160 life. Your life was given to you. 641 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,400 But he's trying to teach us this just as it is given. 642 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:35,160 One day it'll be taken as well. But that's a popular phrase, 643 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,920 isn't it? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. 644 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,280 That's what we've gotten from it. 645 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,200 But it says they came from dust, and they return to dust, reaches 646 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,560 all the way back to the beginning when Adam was created. 647 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,440 And this is where the question comes up that some people would 648 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:50,400 prefer to avoid. Who can prove what happens after 649 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,360 we die? Well, he's not denying that 650 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:54,800 there is more. He's just acknowledging that 651 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,960 from a human perspective, we can't fully see beyond this 652 00:31:57,960 --> 00:31:59,920 life. And so the answer is, who can 653 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:01,160 prove? Nobody can prove it. 654 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:02,480 We still struggle with that today. 655 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:04,480 That's a boundary that we can't cross. 656 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,800 It's a limit that we can't move past just through understanding. 657 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,360 And so it has these two common schools of thought when it comes 658 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,400 to how people understand the future of animals in eternity. 659 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,360 I said we get back to this again. 660 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:19,560 Some think that it highlights the difference, pointing out 661 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,240 that humanity has a unique relationship with God and that 662 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,120 only human beings experience resurrection in the same way 663 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,600 that Scripture later describes. Others see this question itself 664 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,480 is intentionally open-ended, leaving room for the possibility 665 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,280 that God's redemptive plan may extend further than we fully 666 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,520 understand. Those that are in that school of 667 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,160 thought teach it from this standpoint that we are the 668 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,280 stewards of the earth. And so it is our responsibility. 669 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,880 Death came into the earth through us, That before we 670 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,400 allowed sin and death into the earth, even trees, plants, 671 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:54,920 animals, they wouldn't have died. 672 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,880 And so as we are redeemed, that which we have stewardship over 673 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,680 also becomes redeemed. And I'm not here to answer the 674 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:04,560 question for you either. I have my own opinion. 675 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,600 And I'll tell you when I'm not up here with a microphone 676 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:12,040 because the teacher here is not trying to answer that question. 677 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,240 It's really sad to me when I see people get divided over this. 678 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,960 And This is why this isn't a moment of lament when somebody's 679 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,240 going through a hard season lamenting something great. 680 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:27,080 Pain introspective. It is not the time to lay down a 681 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,960 rule or tell them what to do, or establish A doctrine. 682 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,000 You cannot build a doctrine out of a moment of mourning. 683 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:35,960 So don't do that, right? OK. 684 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,120 Then he tells us that the only thing that we can really do is 685 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,600 to enjoy our work. That is our lot in life, as he 686 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,600 put it. And that word lot comes from the 687 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:49,720 Hebrew word kelech. And it basically means a 688 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,480 portion, a share or what has been assigned to someone. 689 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,560 Are you noticing that all of this is about assignment and 690 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,320 timing and appropriateness assigned to someone? 691 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:00,920 It has this whole idea that something has been given to you 692 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:02,400 within the boundaries of your life. 693 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,000 Not everything that you wish for is in your life, but what is 694 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,679 actually in your hands right now is what has been assigned to 695 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:11,880 you. And so this doesn't lower the 696 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,120 value of life when you think about this, whether there's a 697 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,760 difference between the spirits of animals or people or vice 698 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,440 versa. But to me, it actually increases 699 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:20,679 the value of what you have. Now. 700 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,199 You can't control everything, but you can be faithful with 701 00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:26,600 what you've been given. You may wish you had a greater 702 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:30,000 lot, but you can be faithful with the lot that you have. 703 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,639 And you can't determine every outcome, but you can live wisely 704 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:39,239 in the present, in the present. So we have to learn to live 705 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:41,600 within those limits without becoming discouraged by the 706 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,639 limits themselves. It's a sticky situation. 707 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,320 It just means that recognizing control is not the goal. 708 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:53,120 Your faithfulness is. And so trusting God with what is 709 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,840 beyond us is something we are all called to do while also 710 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:59,000 embracing what's in front of us. Every time that we worry about 711 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,200 the things beyond us, we never give enough attention to what's 712 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:02,000 in front of us. Right? 713 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,600 So the teacher doesn't answer every question in this chapter, 714 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:08,360 and he's not going to in Ecclesiastes. 715 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,040 So if you've been waiting for that, it's not going to get 716 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,640 answered. He leaves some of that struggle 717 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,600 in place for us, but he also does give us something solid to 718 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,600 stand on. Life is not meant to be 719 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:20,080 controlled. It's meant to be lived and 720 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,560 received and trusted knowing that it came from the hands of 721 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:24,600 God. If you're watching on the live 722 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,360 stream, we're going to go ahead and cut the video now. 723 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:28,680 For those of you here, we'll do worship in just a little bit. 724 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,200 How's time for the table talk? Everybody get all.