Living the Dash - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Not only seem like every aspect of your life. The fact that you're alive and listening to this lesson today is evidence that your part of God's plan. You're not a medical experiment. You're not some lucky turn of the various here, not some afterthought you're not an interruption that you are alive right now is proof that you happen to be part of God's perfect, eternal, breathtaking view all trusted opposite experiences of life's journey. He made the bold assertion that every aspect, and activity of life is God designed it is purposeful between your birth and death. There are times to dance and mourn the plant and reap to gain and to lose but peace will be woven through it all. When you live each day with the perspective of the divine security you have, through Jesus Christ. Welcome to wisdom for the heart.

Today Stephen Davey opens God's word to Ecclesiastes 3 and the message that he's calling. Living the – here Stephen several months ago I was sent a copy of a poem that I talked the way my files. The poet was struck by the fact that on tombstones you have someone's year of birth and in their year of death separated by that little – is that little – which represents their entire life. And Paul was struck by that and certainly provoke my thinking as well.

She wrote a poem I edited a little bit for the second time, but it goes like this. I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth. He then spoke of the following day with tears, but he said what mattered most was the – between those years for that – represented all the time his friend had spent on earth. And now those who love the most knew what that little line was worth for it matters not how much he owned the cars. The house the cash would mattered most was how we live and how we spent is – it's an insightful thought is that only Oliver limited tombstone again and see that little – and not think of all that it mattered and represented. If you turn to the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon has written his own poem about life, he describes in general terms what can happen in the space of that little – which represents your life and mine now is returning to Ecclesiastes in chapter 3, you're about to be introduced to the world's most famous poem on the subject of time, which represents life factors in production relying that may sound familiar. For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven, you're old enough when you hear those opening lines you nothing about Solomon. Your thing about Pete Seeger and then the birds turn turn turn his name that song how unspiritual you think that when I thought of it. Nevermind their song actually popularized in pop culture. All of this poem except for six words, and it became so well-known and in went to the top of the charts and they made an awful lot of money off it that I found it was interesting that Seeger would later send a portion of his royalties to Israel to acknowledge the fact that their former king was the composer and this is, indeed, as were looking at this and inspired poem now before we dive in. Let me make a couple comments to sort of set the thing up. Solomon is obviously focused on the subject of time the word time is going to appear beyond this opening line 28 different times. This is obviously the main idea of this paragraph or this poem.

The poem is composed of 14 pairs of opposites.

This is a poetic device called mannerism. This is where one phrase couples together polar opposites such as birth – reaping and sowing a weeping, laughing and and by putting them together in a couplet.

It suggests the totality of all that that represents birth and death and everything in between. It's it's a representation of the totality of life.

If I could title this poem it would be something like this.

God has designed your – that includes your first breath and your last, that's Solomon's first couplet go back to verse two just the first phrase every matter under heaven. There's time and season with at a time to be born in a time to die. Those are the bookends of life. Write your birth certificate. You know that day you might have a copy of it tucked away in your file.

You might celebrate it with taken enough candles.

If you got room on top of it can suffer every year you celebrate that birth date on that day. If you have girls like I do you celebrate that day for a month, usually not exactly sure about the other day. He is already determined that the length of your – Solomon is trying to tell us you know that this that this sentence you know try to pick a date. In fact, he is just as equally interested in autofocus here on the fact that God is reminding us through this inspired poem of the amazing truth that you didn't even choose the date of your birth had nothing to do it the first moment you took a nap first breath and you let out that first scriber having been really interacted.

You didn't have anything to do with the siding that would occur – began without you deciding that was the choice of a sovereign Lord who opens the loan.

The matter what the indirect means may be he alone gives life to think about it yet nothing to do that the fertilization of that day, which became you had nothing to do with any decision you ever made in your alive right now Solomon is reinforcing here by God's determination, God's planning, God's design you sent into what he is calling beautiful fitting suitable his plan for eternity. He chose to involve you, which means then you're not an accident, not a mistake. You're not a medical experiment. You're not some lucky turn of events. You're not some afterthought you're not an interruption. The fact that you are alive right now is proof that you happen to be part of God's perfect, eternal, breathtaking, beautiful plan. And this is just the beginning and by the way, only make one more point about this you happen to be alive because God chose you to be alive right now. This generation. This time in human history. He decided that we bring him glory.

Now in this generation. As we trust him as he fits everything into his grand scheme now between your birth and your dad the length of that little – there are a lot of things to take place. There a lot of experiences there a lot of seasons that are going to Take Pl. in Solomon basically layers out in very general terms. Many of these experiences so we can take us through this. You don't need a lot of commentary and will move fairly quickly and make it to the end of the poem just in time for supper. I notice verse two years. Here's a couplet, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted there are seasons for sowing and reaping, and everything in between.

We learn to cooperate that farmer does with God's design you get. You can fight it all you want, plant tomatoes in February, but you know were you cooperate with his seasons and these times one author suggested that we need to cooperate as well with the seasons of our own lives as God cultivates or weeds or plans lessons of faith that will later on growth fruit. Verse three the first couplet reads a time to kill and a time to heal the work for kill was is not the typical Hebrew word for murder, which were forbidden to do. Of course the word Solomon uses might refer to capital punishment or self defense. Solomon continues in verse three. There's a time to break down and a time to build up in verse four, Solomon writes there's a time to weep and a time to laugh. We love those seasons of laughter to outnumber those seasons of weeping daughters fitting those in you may be in one of the other two days. Solomon simply tells us were going to experience plenty of both of them. There's a time to cry when tears flow freely. Jesus wept as he has. He bore as it were, the infinite God man all the sense of the sorrow of death or Lazarus is soon. This is the suffering of Job, who were told. His eyes poured out tears on the God having lost his children, and the life he knew Solomon is expressing here in this couplet. Nothing less than the legitimacy of both crying and laughing, which means that a wise person doesn't run from either one along that same line. The last couple of numbers for reads as a time to mourn and a time to dance.

There's a legitimate time to mourn the loss of a loved one of the loss of a plan or a dream or of an appropriate loss like that is not time to paint on the little plastic smile. It's time to mourn appropriate morning is not faithless or sinful.

According to Solomon there is then this season where morning is absolutely the correct God designed suitable fitting beautiful response in life now because the opposite. The polar opposite here.

According to Solomon there are seasons of morning notice. There are times to mourn and there are times to dance. He evidently was in a Baptist, but at any rate, he thinks there ought to be some times when you jump up and down dancing up a bad news you hear. That's good news that's really what you're going to.

This is why spectrum of God given emotion verse five he writes there's a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.

He writes next in verse five is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing this to be a reference to marital sexual intimacy worn wears be in as little commentary writes, he believes it's reference to the culture of the near East where they would openly embrace and kiss one another on the cheek when they meet, and then they would do the same when they part he paraphrase this to read. There is a time to say hello and a time to say goodbye. In verse six he says there is a time to see and a time to lose the word C carries the idea of gaining you could read it.

There's a time to gain and a time to lose. Sounds like your dieting plan but actually the idea here of gaining and losing. These are financial terms. There carrying the that the implication of financial gain and financial loss. Maybe you've experienced the polar opposites above may be of experience at time of gain and loss may be. You've seen blessing financially. Maybe you've experienced bankruptcy.

Again, God is in control of these seasons specifically for your life.

He is woven into the narrative of your life that little – what only he can control in verse six.

Again, there's a time to keep and the time to throw away you could render this.

There's a time to store away things you need and you might need him later to storm away and there's a time to throw things away as you have and use in a long time and probably never will. Practical terminology and in practical terms, I thought it was you could rape you know there are times to keep, and there are times the throw yard sale so you be able to love the yard sale your theme verse for the rest of your life, go, go for there times when you gather you keep your store. There times and you say you know what I don't need a giveaway or sell. Solomon writes in verse seven there's a time to tear and a time to so you're familiar with the Scriptures you read.

Often when someone experience a setback or tragedy they would tear their garment, they would tear from the collar downward over there hard to physically express their heart was broken there would be than this season of dealing with tragedy and difficulty and pain. One author wisely commends that we ask God for his perspective and for his wisdom as we move through these seasons.

He writes there is a season when it's time to tear and there's a season when it's time to get out your needle and thread and start selling things further in verse seven there's a time to keep silence and polar opposite is there's a time to speak and we would be wise to know the season ran bitter times when he should speak up and are times when you should speak up. To understand the principle that when it's not necessary to speak, it is necessary not to speak reading right now. Biography. George Washington called George Washington on leadership in John Adams writes that George Washington had the gift of silence he knew when to speak. My mother would quote to me that famous statement by Abraham Lincoln. I have often regretted my speech never my silence. She made me memorize that I have no reason or idea why, but I did memorize the rights in verse eight. Here is a time to love and a time to hate the part about loving us about hating we supposed to hate the psalmist wrote hate evil.

You who love the Lord some 97 verse 10 Solomon wrote in Proverbs 8 verse 13 the fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil so much you hate your sin.

What you feel about your sin. How deeply are you feeling and regrets and remorse and in despising sin that Solomon recorded by the spirits inspiring influenced this very interesting self revelation from God that we would know.

Had he not recorded it.

He writes there are six things that the Lord hates seven are an abomination to him haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies