A father had four sons. The father sent them to see a pear tree that grew in a distant land to teach them that they should not jump to conclusions. The first son was sent out in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the fourth in the fall. They all went there and came back. The father called the four together and had each one talk about what he had seen.
The son who went in the winter, said, “The pear tree I saw had not a single leaf on it, it was hideous, and some of its branches were broken off.”
The son who went in the spring, couldn’t believe what he was hearing and said, “The tree I saw was covered all over with fresh greenery, and it was filled with the promise of what is to come.”
The son who went in the summer, in agreement said, “The tree I saw was full of fruit, smelled sweet, and was full of life.”
The son who went in the fall, as if not understanding “green leaves” said, “There was no fruit on that tree, but its leaves were bright red, and were falling to the ground one after another, and in a way, the tree looked like it had accomplished an important task.”
The father who was listening to their four stories said to them, “What you all saw is all correct. The tree you saw was exactly the same, and within it was all the seasons.” The father then added, “Don’t get caught up in your own one season and draw conclusions. If you give up in winter, you will never see the promise of spring, the beauty of summer, or the harvest of autumn.”
Still Autumn comes after summer
Sep 12, 2021
We have been looking at the words from Ecclesiastes, under the theme of “Making Interesting an Uninteresting World”. Today, I would like to look at Ecclesiastes 3:1-4.
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born 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, . . . (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4; NIV)
Solomon said, there is a time to be born and time to die, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh . . .What he is trying to say here is that, there is a time for everything, and a “season” for every activity under the heavens, for what we do.
When we hear the word “season,” the first thing that comes to mind are the seasons of “spring, summer, fall, winter.” In some countries and regions, the seasons are not clear, but in most countries and regions, the order of the four seasons never changes and the seasons come and go each year.
And there is an order to it. In other words, spring cannot become the spring it should be without winter, and summer cannot become the summer it should be without spring. It cannot be that last year it was fall, spring, winter, and summer, or that this year it will be summer, spring, winter, and fall.
It is not the National Weather Service or the White House that will call the shots of the seasonal changes. The four seasons are already embedded in this natural world, and when the time comes, the seasons will change. We humans do not have the power to control these seasons. No one can replace this fall with next spring.
As we read the Bible, there is one thing that we are reminded of. As we read the Bible, we notice that there are seasons to the events recorded in the Bible.
This can be seen in the beginning of the Bible, in the creation. In Genesis 1:14, 15, we read the following. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. (NASB)
In creating the heavens and the earth, God created the sun, which became a sign separating day from night, and through the existence of the sun, the seasons, days, and years were created.
There is indeed an intelligence behind these works of creation that is discerning of “order” or “time”.
About 3500 years ago, when Moses was negotiating many tough deals with the king of Egypt to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, Jesus Christ was not born to be the helper of Moses. About 2600 years ago, when Jeremiah was trying to fulfill his mission as a prophet with tears in his eyes, Jesus Christ was not born to support him.
Rather, Jesus Christ was born about 2000 years ago, “In the days of Herod, king of Judea,” as the Gospel of Luke tells us (Luke 1:5).
And of that time, Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law”. (NASB)
The way Jesus appeared was as a baby lying in a manger, and from that birth, Jesus went through a “time” of growth, a “time” of social life as a carpenter, and finally, in that year, after the age of 30, He proclaimed the Kingdom of God. Jesus Himself, with the cross in front of Him said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,” (John 17:1; NASB), revealed the time of his own crucifixion, resurrected, and returned to heaven.
To say “the fullness of the time” or “the hour has come,” means that all that has been done up to that point has been prepared for that time, with each needed step of the process for that time having been completed, and that time has finally arrived.
The creation of the heavens and the earth, the birth of man, husband and wife, families, the spread of people, and the salvific forms of human beings that result from these events, all took place over thousands of years, and Christ came to earth in the “fullness of the time” when there was no better time than then.
And behind that moment, there is a being who is discerning that moment. And we call that being “God”.
When our hearts are in turmoil, that’s when we lose sight of the meaning of “time.” We are afraid, disappointed, and discouraged when we feel that “time” is beyond our control.
“Why do I get sick at this time?” “Why can’t I be healed now?” “Why can’t I pass the exam at this time?” “Why didn’t I do it when I was supposed to?”
In this we are troubled, we suffer, and we sometimes blame ourselves, blame others, blame the world, and blame God. This suffering will continue as long as we live, that is, as long as we live in the flow of time.
However, we can gain a new understanding of this “time” from the Bible. David realized this through his own painful experience and put it into a single word.
He was in the midst of tremendous trouble, suffering and sorrow at that time. Let’s read Psalm 31:9-16.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also. 10 For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and my body has wasted away. 11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. 12 I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. 13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror is on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they schemed to take away my life. 14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. 16 Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; save me in Your lovingkindness.
As I have said many times, Solomon says “under the sun” 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes. And he says that what happens under the sun is inexplicable and full of emptiness. Our minds get confused, when we think about the “time” under the sun.
David must have known this, which is why he is saying here, “Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; save me in Your lovingkindness” (Psalm 31:16)!
“If I stay here under the sun, I will be swallowed up by this suffering, so, Lord, make Your face shine upon me! Let Your light shine upon me at this time!” And with that prayer, David cries out, “My times are in Your hand” (Psalm 31:15).
Jesus once said when he was about to be nailed to the cross in a few hours. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27; NASB)
This peace came from the fact that Jesus knew that the “time of the cross” did not suddenly fall on Him, but that He was still in God’s hands at that time.
And what we can see from this is that if we also believe and accept that “this time is in God’s hands,” then we too can have the peace in our hearts that Christ said the world could never give us.
Jesus had 12 disciples, but Peter was the most restless, impatient, quick to act on his thoughts, and experienced many failures. In the last years of his life, he became a man who spoke these words.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7; NIV)
The Peter of old did not have an “in due time” mentality. He believed that “time” was something he would create, and that he would change that “time” by his own strength.
However, as he came to realize who God was, and as he came to realize who he was, he came to an understanding.
“Let us not place ourselves under the sun, but let us place ourselves humbly under the mighty hands of God. Unless we humble ourselves, we cannot be under God’s hands. And let us believe that everything that happens to us is in the mighty hands of God. When the time comes, God will exalt us, and He is the one who cares for you more than anyone else, so give all your worries to Him!”
None of us can humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God from the beginning. In the beginning, Solomon must have tried his own strength in this and that way. This is what is recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes.
In the midst of all this, he came to an understanding. That is the words in Ecclesiastes 3:11: 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. (Ecclesiastes 3:11; NIV)
We cannot discern God’s work from beginning to end.
Therefore, we must humble ourselves before this God, and surrender ourselves to the time that is in His hands.
But at the same time, Solomon wrote, “He has also set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). What a profound insight! “Eternity” is something we can’t grasp, but we certainly have it in our minds. And, this is something that only humans have.
The Bible does not tell us that this eternity is “something to be contemplated.” It says that in that eternity we will “in fact, be living.”
And until we enter that eternity, we will not be able to discern all of God’s work.
Firmly acknowledging our limitations, we hang our heads before God. But when we enter into that eternal world, something happens. Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 13:12.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12; NASB)
While we live on this earth, we confess by faith, “My time is in Your hands,” and we live under the radiance of God’s face.
But still, during this time, what we see is blurry. It is only partial. As long as we are on this earth, we cannot see all of it.
However, the Bible promises us that when we go to be with God, we will know everything perfectly, just as God knows us perfectly.
And when all of that is revealed, perhaps our mouths will involuntarily sigh and declare the words of Ecclesiastes: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
This, that, and the other thing that God had done for me, all came to pass in its time. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but it was indeed beautiful!
Please don’t misunderstand me here. “What God does” is not “what we do by our own decision” or “what this person, or that person has done to us.”
It’s not that “sinning and the consequences of sinning” are beautiful, but that “all that God has done” in our sinful lives is beautiful in its own time.
When you think about the life of Jacob, deceiving his father and brother out of his own greed is not what God did to Jacob. It is something that Jacob had done, and it is not something that can be called beautiful.
In fact, Jacob lived a life where he had to reap what he had sown. However, God spoke to him through many things, and at times He did things that can only be described as beautiful.
A father had four sons. The father sent them to see a pear tree that grew in a distant land to teach them that they should not jump to conclusions.
The first son was sent out in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the fourth in the fall. They all went there and came back. The father called the four together and had each one talk about what he had seen.
The son who went in the winter, said, “The pear tree I saw had not a single leaf on it, it was hideous, and some of its branches were broken off.”
The son who went in the spring, couldn’t believe what he was hearing and said, “The tree I saw was covered all over with fresh greenery, and it was filled with the promise of what is to come.”
The son who went in the summer, in agreement said, “The tree I saw was full of fruit, smelled sweet, and was full of life.”
The son who went in the fall, as if not understanding “green leaves” said, “There was no fruit on that tree, but its leaves were bright red, and were falling to the ground one after another, and in a way, the tree looked like it had accomplished an important task.”
The father who was listening to their four stories said to them, “What you all saw is all correct. The tree you saw was exactly the same, and within it was all the seasons.” The father then added, “Don’t get caught up in your own one season and draw conclusions. If you give up in winter, you will never see the promise of spring, the beauty of summer, or the harvest of autumn.”
Don’t let the pain and difficulties of one season cause you to lose all the other seasons. Don’t forget that those difficulties lead to the next harvest.
God is indeed at work in each season, giving it meaning. Persevere through the hard seasons, and the next season will come around.
Dear people in the Lord, the amazing joy of the resurrection would not have been possible without the suffering of Gethsemane!
Solomon said, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”.
Our lives also have these four seasons, and each thing that is woven in those seasons has its own time. And everything that God does in each season is beautiful in its own time.
Dear people in the Lord, summer is about to end in San Diego, and welcome in the fall. We have had a very hot summer this year, but after summer comes fall.
The fall is the result of the summer we have spent. And after fall comes winter. And that winter is the winter that comes after fall has finished its work. Our God is the God who governs these seasons. He is the God who is doing beautiful things in these seasons.
It may seem that there is nothing interesting in life, but God’s hand is already stretched out in that life.
Our lives can be truly interesting in the Lord, when we discover one after another God’s works behind these seasons, and as we take to heart and live with the seasons of life that are in God’s hands.
Let us pray.
