“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

– Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV

 

What Time Is It?

Learning to tell time is a life skill, often mastered between the ages of 5 and 8. Children begin to tell time by discerning the day from the night. They measure the light around them long before they understand a clock. Eventually, they move from the broad strokes of day/night to the concepts of past, present, future – hours, minutes and seconds. In other words, they learn by moving from the general to the specific, from the large to the small. God wants all of us to learn the same thing. 

The author of Ecclesiastes refers to himself as “The Preacher” (Ecc. 1:1). He writes with a message and considers everything under the sun. But as we are about to flip to a new month, welcoming a new year, the Preacher’s message about time is fitting. His message can help us discern the time God has for us. If we can tell the time, we will know what to do.

 

Enough Time for Everything

His first lesson is simple. Everything in life has an appropriate time. Time doesn’t just happen; it is appointed. God sets the schedule for sunsets, empires, harvests, wars, discoveries, success, births and deaths. Everything that happened to you in 2025 happened at the right time. Everything coming in 2026 will arrive when it should. Life is not luck. Chance and change do not rule over us, God does.

That does not mean that we are pleased with everything God brings. The Preacher presents couplets of events – born/die, weep/laugh, keep/cast off, silence/speak. Some of these we embrace. Others are shunned as unwanted intrusions. But there is a time for everything under heaven. There is a time for gains and a time for losses in your life. There are occasions to weep and times that call for dancing. The coming year will hold both for each of us. The positives may not be in equal portions as the negatives, but there is a time for both. Only the naive believe that all of life is sweet.  

And to push the Preacher’s point even further – if there is a time for everything under heaven, then there must be enough for everything. Wishing that we had more time is useless. We have all the time that there is: 24 hours every day. There is enough time in the coming year to do and be everything that God has appointed for you.

 

Seasons of Life

The Preacher uses a familiar metaphor to describe the timing of life. He says that everything in life has a “season.” It’s an apt description we can understand. We’ve experienced spring, summer, fall and winter. So to discern the time, remember seasons. We are like young children looking out their window, beginning to grasp time by the passing of day and night. We may struggle to discern the time of our life in hourly or daily portions. But looking at the broader frame, a seasonal frame, helps us. A season of youth, of education, of building family or being retired, these markers are easier to see. You may be in a season of seclusion, removed from your usual connections. You may experience a season of health challenges. Some are enjoying a season of fruitfulness and excitement. We measure our days by hours, but we live by seasons. And as we know, seasons have specific traits.

Seasons Have Patterns – The rain and cool air of fall are not a surprise. We know they will lead to winter. We’ve seen this before. God often works in patterns. He does something that He has done before. You’ve learned to recognize His Hand. His Divine fingerprints are seen in His patterns.

Seasons Are Passing – If winter is not to your liking, hold on, spring will come. No season is permanent. That’s a necessary reminder. God may have you in a season of delight, but it is not permanent. You may be in a challenging season of stress or deep pain. That is not permanent either!

Seasons Have Purpose – Spring is the time to plant and fall is the time for harvest. We shouldn’t resist the purpose of the season. If we are in a season to “cast away,” it’s vain to be gathering (3:6). If this is a season for silence, why are we talking so much? (3:7). We want to discern the times of our lives so that we may act accordingly.

 

Our Hope

The Preacher doesn’t tell us the time nor predict the future for us. He does give the assurance that God is in control. The timing of our lives is led by the Sovereign, full of grace and power. You have seen that in the year gone by. Turn around and trust in it for the year to come.