More than words of convenience are the words of the title taken from the book of Ecclesiastes, these are words of explanation of the view we need to take when we don’t understand what God is doing.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) — 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
It should be noted that the pronoun “it’s” could be translated “His” and since we read in Psalm 31 that our times are in His hand, we would do well to follow the guidance of the KJV.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (KJV) — 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
Think about the truth of the text and how there are times we don’t see the beauty or understand the good that is taking place, which means we have to take it all by faith and trust God and the truth of Scripture. Just as we must do in order to get the full impact of Romans 8:28.
Romans 8:28 (ESV) — 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Where’s the good? I hear that many times when someone is consoled with this verse while facing some trial of life. The answer is really found in the following verse in Romans 8.
Romans 8:29 (ESV) — 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
God is a God of purpose Who does not do things haphazardly, rather has a plan for everything, including the trials we face. What is His purpose? To conform our character to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, which means we need the suffering moments as well as the mountain top experiences to conform us to the standard maturity that God has set for us as His child.
Lest we think this is unruly, we are told that His purpose in conforming us to the standard is all part of the grand plan of God that He has set in place on our behalf. Just look at how beautiful God’s plan is in His time!
Romans 8:30–31 (ESV) — 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
I’m sure you will agree that the answer to verse 31 is praise and thanksgiving to God because He has shown Himself to be for us in predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. Therefore, putting it all together, we can rejoice with the truth of Romans 8:28 that yes indeed, God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, the called according to His purpose. Everything is beautiful in His time.
Going back to Ecclesiastes chapter three, consider the context:
Ecclesiastes 3:1–11 (ESV) — 1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
In verses 2-8 of Ecclesiastes 3 appears a remarkable listing of 28 “times,” arranged in 14 pairs of opposites (e.g., “a time to be born, and a time to die,” v. 2). The entire section is introduced by God’s definitive statement: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (v. 1). It is then climaxed by His remarkable assurance in the words of our text for the day. Everything that God has made is beautiful in its appropriate time—even death and war, killing and hating, and all the other “negatives” in the list, as well as the 14 “positives”—healing and loving, building and planting, and many others.
Isaiah 55:8–9 (ESV) — 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Everything is beautiful in His time. It’s important to remember that God is the arranger and the interpreter. So the reality of enjoying what God has made beautiful, and the perfection of His timing is the necessity to have His mind but that is not lost. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have it.
1 Corinthians 2:15–16 (ESV) — 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker, Pastor
Christ Community Presbyterian Church
Clearwater, FL
