There is a Time

 

ecclesiastes 3 11

Ecclesiastes 2:17-3:22

And now another exciting episode from the book of Ecclesiastes. “Everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

Here we find Solomon, as cheerful as ever, saying that he “hated life” and all the work that he had done. Not only does it not bring lasting satisfaction but anything that lasts beyond our life will likely end up going to some schmuck who does not deserve it, has not earned it, and will not appreciate it. A great misfortune indeed!

Verses 22-23 are kind of an “ah-ha” moments though. He uses the phrase “anxious striving” and states that “all his days” there is “pain and grief” and at night “his mind does not rest.” Solomon is talking about the drive that pushes many of us. It is a drive to provide a “better” life, to have more, to do more, and to never be … satisfied. This drive causes anxiety, pain, and grief. What does it get us though? We are never satisfied because we are never where we want to be and we never will be. Not here in this world at least. It frustrates our days and disrupts our nights. Think about it. When you set a goal, where you want to be or accomplish in a year, what happens once you have met that goal? You set another goal! “A chasing after the wind.”

Now Solomon is not condemning ambition or general goal setting. As a matter of fact he says in verses 24-25, “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” He goes on to say that the godly will be granted wisdom, knowledge and happiness. To the sinner… a consolation prize of fruitless labor! He will not have satisfaction in his work and may not even see the fruits of his labor. We see examples of this type of judgment throughout Scripture as well as in and around our lives. This is a temporal judgment though, in the here and now. A giving and taking away of that which will ultimately perish.

Then Solomon says “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” He says activity for a reason and it is because an activity is something deliberate. It is a willful act and so for every willful act there is a time, a point in time, and a season, a duration. This opening line gives way to a poem on fourteen opposites, each of which happens in its own time. He illustrates this in a multiple of seven, which is the number signifying completeness. Additionally, he utilized polar opposites in a poetic form known as merism that suggests totality. In this way Solomon affirms that all activities, both constructive and destructive, and all responses to all things happen in their time. Too deep? Then let me break it down.

The poem begins with life and death, the beginning and end of life. Two events over which we have little to no control over. He continues with deliberate acts of one who begins and ends plant life, takes and saves human life, and constructs and destroys buildings. All concepts of life and death. From these thoughts he writes of our responses to such events: weeping and morning and their opposites, laughing and dancing and all of the joy found in them. He then switches from life and death to man’s interest in things and his affections towards people. This is followed with a period of mourning and the completion of the mourning, when one would begin again to move forward in life. Of course it all ends with concepts that are as significant as the ones he began the poem with. They are two of life’s basic emotions with war and peace being the most poignant expression of each one.

Truly, the burden laid upon us is that we have knowledge and understanding. We see this great big world around us and realize its satisfactions are too small for us. He has placed within us knowledge of eternity but we cannot fully grasp it yet. We know that we likely play a role in God’s plan but do not fully understand what God’s plan is for our lives. Despite this we can trust that He will “make everything beautiful in its time.” This is the burden God has laid upon us.

For those who do not know God, they may see Him as arbitrary but Solomon described the nature of God’s plan and what the appropriate response of men should be. He has seen it all from beginning to end. He knows the choices we make and the consequences of those choices. And to all will come His righteous judgment. For the wicked and the righteous, for the just and unjust, a time will come.

“But he says that we are like animals? That we have no advantage over them?”

We were all dust and have received life from God. To the dust we will all return so in that he is correct. We are like animals with no advantage. Verse 21 however shows us a difference. The fact that we are capable of contemplating what happens to our spirit is an advantage. This awareness is an advantage. To wonder at the awesome power of God and to be inquisitive enough to seek after Him. Again though, it is an advantage that is also our burden. To ask why we are here? What is our purpose in His plan?

The answers to all of this will come … in its time.

To be continued …

Jeff Ransom

Under the Sun

Eccles 1_9

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:16

Ecclesiastes does not exactly seem like the perfect book for uplifting and encouraging one another but let us take a look at it anyway.

We can assume from the titles the author gives himself and other clues that Solomon wrote this book. The wisest man, excluding Jesus, to walk the earth and he begins by saying that “everything is meaningless!” What is meaningless? From the third verse of chapter one and a number of arguments made throughout the book, we can understand Solomon to mean that all human endeavors are meaningless. With the number of times he repeats the word meaningless several translations/versions read as “utterly meaningless”. Our labors are totally and completely useless. So he asks the question, “What does man gain from all his labor?” It is almost like he is daring us to give a positive answer to that question.

He argues in broad strokes that our efforts can have no permanent value. “Generations come and generations go” speaks of how short life is and the insignificance of our efforts. He contrasts our efforts with the earth which will remain and yet even the things that happen on earth are without meaning. Solomon gives examples of the sun, wind, and water to illustrate his point. Each of these cycling around in ceaseless activity. But what does the sun, wind, or water gain from their activities? Nothing! It is all monotonous and wearisome without effecting any progress or reaching some goal.

“But there are so many advances every day. In technology, medicine, industry, you name it. With everything we have and what is coming, Solomon obviously had no idea what he was talking about when he said there is nothing new under the sun.”

Cell phones – just an update on old technology which in turn is just two people talking only over greater distances. The computer – just a dumbed down version of our own brains. If you know me you will find it difficult to believe that a computer is a dumbed down version of my brain but it is true. Computers only mimic the pathways and impulses of our brains. Space travel – it is still just traveling from one place to another, adventuring into the unknown. So Solomon is correct, there really is nothing new under the sun.

Let’s not forget either that Solomon was not only incredibly wise but he was insanely rich and powerful. With all of that he tried to discover something, anything that had not been done before. He even sunk into madness and folly. The conundrum to this endeavor however is that he did so under the guidance of wisdom. He did not indulge blindly or in uncontrolled excess. He denied himself nothing and undoubtedly gained some measure of satisfaction from his experiences but he discovered that it was all fleeting, gone in an instant. Nothing was truly gained from any of it.

Solomon’s verdict on all of this is that wisdom enabled him to enjoy both pleasure and the fruits of his labor sensibly, to cherish them rather than to pass numbly through them. So there is an advantage to wisdom over foolishness. Yet both the wise and foolish share the same fate. So what does wisdom gain us? What is the point?

Paraphrasing Proverbs 2:1-8, “my son, if you accept my words, turning your ear to wisdom, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield, He guards and protects the way of His faithful ones.”

There is a glorious purpose; Trust in Him and His plan, His power. We can gain knowledge and understanding from God’s Word but it only becomes wisdom when we apply it to our lives. When we live out what we have learned from Scripture we will be able to enjoy this life and all of our “meaningless” endeavors. Without God, everything is meaningless.

To be continued…

Jeff Ransom

Joseph: More Pain

Genesis 44 34

Joseph, from the Old Testament, was a very godly man.  He endured many hardships, but held onto his faith. But along the way, he picked up some bitterness and resentment toward his brothers.  When he had the chance, he tormented them, exacting some measure of revenge.  At that time there was such severe famine that Joseph’s brothers were forced to go back to Joseph a second time and buy grain.  This time, Joseph started by being kind to his brothers, and then he veered off, continuing to emotionally torment them.

In Genesis 44, everything finally came to a head.  Joseph deceived his brothers further, and made it appear that he was going to force the youngest brother, Benjamin, to stay there with Joseph in Egypt.  This plan may have seemed like another fine way to punish his brothers, but there was a huge problem.  His brother Judah approached Joseph, and said, “If you keep the boy Benjamin here, our elderly father will die from sorrow.”  Perhaps Joseph hadn’t considered the pain he was about to cause his own father–or the pain he had already caused him.  At this point, Joseph just about had an emotional breakdown (read it for yourself in Genesis 45).  All along Joseph had been trying to hurt his brothers, but he was the one who was hurt the most.  The pain he wished for them turned out to be the pain he felt.

At some point in your life, you may have someone really hurt you.  Maybe you already have.  And maybe at some point you will have a chance to hurt them back.  Maybe even hurt them back really bad.  Consider this: it will come with a huge cost to you.  You may want to hurt them back, but it will cost you something very real and something very big.  It would be better for everyone involved if you can somehow forgive them, and not pay them back in the way they deserve.

-Jason Turner

Joseph: A Time for Revenge?

Genesis 42 8 9

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: many people pass the test of poverty only to fail the test of plenty.  The idea being that many people do okay while living in poverty, but if they become wealthy, they don’t do as well.  Joseph remained faithful to God and very honest during his time of slavery and imprisonment.  But in Genesis 42, Joseph had become incredibly powerful and wealthy.  His ten brothers who had sold him into slavery, came before him practically begging for food.  Joseph deceived them, he played mind games on them, he messed with them, he exacted his revenge.  Joseph had suffered for years in slavery and prison, and now it was payback time.  Read through the chapter, and ask yourself if these were the actions of a godly person.  How would you have responded in the same situation?  What will you do when you are given a chance to repay someone evil for evil?  How will you repay someone who has genuinely hurt you?

-Jason Turner

Joseph: Right Where God Wanted Him

Gen 41 38

In Genesis 40, Joseph is still stuck in prison for having done nothing at all.  He has now gone from living a pampered life as the favorite son to being a slave and then being a prisoner. It would appear that the circumstances in his life have literally gone from bad to worse.  But whether he knew it or not, God was putting Joseph right where Joseph needed to be.

In chapter 40, Joseph demonstrates an amazing ability to interpret dreams. In chapter 41, Pharaoh has a dream, and he wants Joseph to interpret it.  Genesis 41:15 says, “So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.”  After Joseph was able to interpret the dream for Pharaoh, Pharaoh declared, “You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”  Toward the end of the chapter, it reads, “Pharaoh had Joseph ride in a chariot as his second-in-command,  and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

In one day Joseph went from being a prisoner to being a big wig, the second most powerful person in all of Egypt. You know you’ve reached the top if you ever have people running in front of your chariot telling everyone else to get out of the way.  How did this all come about?  Joseph was faithful to God, and God blessed Joseph.  No matter what happened in Joseph’s life, Joseph did not turn from God.  Let me ask you a question: do your circumstances ever get you down?  Do you allow yourself to become discouraged or frustrated or even depressed by where you are in life?  Have you ever considered that perhaps God is putting you right where He wants you to be?  The next time you feel tempted to give up on your relationship with God, remember Joseph, and all he went through, from the prison to the throne room–all in one day.

-Jason Turner

Joseph: Prosperous Slave & Successful Prisoner…And God Was With Him

Gen 39 20b-21a

In the beginning of Genesis 39, Joseph has just been sold to a new master named Potiphar.  During the course of the chapter, Joseph is falsely accused and thrown into prison.  The chapter ends as Joseph goes from being a slave to being a prisoner.  Sounds pretty bad, right?  Strangely enough, the chapter starts out by saying of Joseph the slave, “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.”  The chapter ends by saying of Joseph the prisoner, “The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”  So God was with Joseph and gave him success and prosperity even as a slave and a prisoner.  Sounds very strange to me.  It would seem to me that success would be not being a slave and not being a prisoner.  But Joseph understood some things that many of us never understand.

 

We can learn a lot of good things from Joseph.  Whatever happened in his life, he kept on trying to live for God.  He continued to have a good attitude and he continued to work hard.  He didn’t pout, become discouraged, depressed or cry out, “Why me?”

 

How about you?  When you go through tough times, do you continue to seek God and discover His will?  Do you try to keep a positive attitude?  Would you keep working hard if you were in Joseph’s shoes?  We will soon see how God’s plan unfolded in Joseph’s life.  Feel free to read ahead in the Bible on this story of Joseph.  It is way more interesting than a TV show.

 

-Jason Turner

Joseph: Trouble Comes…for a Time

John 16 33

One day Joseph’s brothers were out watching the flocks in the fields (and in the sun), and Joseph was kept at home to relax.  Later on, their dad sent Joseph out to check on the brothers.  When the brothers saw Joseph coming from a distance, they hated him so much that they talked about killing him. After some discussion, they decided to beat him up and threw him into a large, dried out, underground water storage container.  Later, they pulled him back out.  Joseph thought his ordeal was over, but instead his brothers sold him to a caravan of traveling merchants.  Joseph pleaded with them for mercy, but his brothers just smiled and waved goodbye.  You can read about this in Genesis 37 and some of the following chapters also reveal some of the details.  Joseph had basically done nothing wrong, but he found himself betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery.

Sometimes people think that if they do everything right, then no bad things will ever happen to them.  Sometimes people are very cautious in order to avoid problems or troubles.  Some people think that if they serve God without making any mistakes, they will then have a nearly perfect life.  But life doesn’t work in these ways.  Joseph did nothing wrong, but he was sold into slavery.  In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.”  The Bible never promises us an easy, trouble free life.  In fact, we are promised we will have trouble.

Joseph was taken to Egypt as a slave, but during his time there, he would see God’s plan unfold for his life.  A much greater good would occur because of his time as a slave.  Perhaps some day you will face tough times when God is trying to bring about long term good.  It will be hard to face at the time, but in the long term, you will see God’s hand at work in your life.

-Jason Turner

Joseph: Loved…and Hated

Genesis 37 3a

One person in the Bible who I find very interesting is Joseph.  During the course of his life, he lived through many troubles and many incredible successes.  Much of the trouble that Joseph faced came from his very difficult family life.  His father, Jacob, had four wives.  Jacob loved Joseph’s mother more than the other three wives.  And then Jacob loved Joseph more than any of the other children.  Genesis 37:4 says “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”  This would lead to big problems for Joseph (more on this later).

Perhaps you have experienced some of this in your own life, in your own family.  Often it is a bad behavior that is passed down from one generation to another.  It creates a lot of resentment within a family.  Imagine how Joseph’s brothers felt knowing their father loved their brother more than them.  Favoritism: don’t pass it on.

-Jason Turner

The OG Avenger

Romans 12 18

My husband and I are making our way through the netflix vigilante, superhero movies and shows. Some of our favorites are the Avenger movies, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Arrow, Flash and so on. Every superhero show needs a villain. Usually these villains have a vendetta on the world because they were wronged at some point by someone.

 

The Villain in that last show we watched brought his wrath down on Harlem because someone murdered his mom. He decided to repay evil with more evil in an attempt to right the wrong done to him. He let anger, rage and bitterness control his actions.

 

This reminds me of the passage in Romans 12:

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

 

When we are wronged we tend to feel the need to right that wrong, to get even, to get revenge. The Bible makes it clear that it is God’s job to repay those wrongs. He even goes further to say:

 

20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

   if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

So unless you want to be the next Thanos, Wilson Fisk or netflix villain I suggest you allow God to be the only avenger and practice overcoming those who wrong you by showing them goodness.

 

-Elleigh

 

Bee a Good Worker Bee!

James 1 12

An individual honey bee cannot live on its own much like a true Christian cannot live without the body of Christ to sustain it.  A honey bee colony is referred to as a “super organism.” While each individual honey bee is itself an organism, together as a hive of thousands of bees they become something much more extraordinary!  Every bee has a job to do that changes as they get older. They start by staying in the hive doing jobs like undertaker, food storage, cleaning, nurse and taking care of the queen. Then as they grow they take a test flight outside the safety of the hive.  Then one day they are ready for foraging for food. Foraging is a dangerous yet necessary part of the super organism’s function. Without this foraging the bees would have no nectar to feed upon and no pollen for protein.

Luke 13:6-9 NIV  – Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.  So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

It is essential as a Christian to bear good fruit and to be a good tree that will not be removed from the earth – to be like a good worker bee who helps to feed the hive and sustain the Super organism that is the body of Christ.  When bees leave the hive they leave security; they do not have a protector in heaven just the cruel world crouching at the entrance of the hive.  Some of the trials bees face when they leave the hive are birds, dragonflies, cars, flying up to two miles away and navigating back to the correct hive.  Regardless of what they face bees will move forward even to the point of death against overwhelming odds. As Christians we need to work to put fertilizer around our roots so that we can grow to the point of bearing fruit.  Like bees who take test flights Christians need to be willing to do things that are not in their comfort zone.

James 1:12 NIV Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Sometimes our venture away from the security of Church camps or the fellowship with our brothers and sisters does not go well.  Stepping out of our comfort zone can leave us feeling anxious or scared. If the bees retreated and refused to persevere through all the dangers they face the hive would have no choice but to begin eating their honey that is stored up.  If there is still no nectar coming in they begin to cannibalize the young pupae who require food. Let’s hope our churches never get to that point! If there is still no nectar coming in and they have gone through their stores they will either abscond or starve.  As Christians we cannot simply hangout in our comfortable zone.  Eventually it’s time to feel uncomfortable and to face trials. It builds our endurance when we face trials and overcome them, allowing us to move past a test flight and become a forager and bear good fruit.    

When bees find a good foraging location they do a dance to point others in the right direction.  To spread the good news they wiggle and wag and somehow that translates to a distance and a direction.  I cannot communicate to you where the fruit is that you need to forage for the Lord through a dance like honey bees but I can encourage you to step out of your comfort zone.  Take a flight away for your warm, safe hive and you will begin to produce more fruit. It could be increasing something you are doing now, doing something you haven’t done before, working on the fundamentals, doing good works, or it could be you try and fail and have to redirect your energy.  You have a wonderful Protector in heaven who loves you. It’s time to show him the same love he shows us.

-Elleigh Dylewski