Time is Vanity

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have a Bible and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 3…and listen, as you turn there, if you would, stand with me as we read God’s Word together.

It says this starting in verse 1:

Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 ESV

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 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. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

This is God’s Word…Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen, over the past several weeks, we’ve been walking through the book of Ecclesiastes, looking at the first two chapters…and if there’s one word that’s echoed very loudly, it would be the word “vanity.”

Solomon, he’s taken us on a very brutal, very honest journey through things like wisdom, and work, and pleasure…And with each of those things, he’s declared all of it to be a vapor…its all fleeting, its all frustrating…ultimately, it’s all empty when its pursued apart from God.

And listen, he’s not being cynical here…he’s being honest with us. Everything “under the sun,” when its disconnected from the eternal…all of it fails to deliver lasting meaning. Our lives, they move fast, and so much of what we chase after, it slips through our fingers like wind.

And so, as we come to chapter 3, Solomon, he turns his attention to time…its another thing we try our hardest to control…and to measure…to fill…Some of us even try to outrun it. And yet, just like everything else…time itself, its a vapor…its vanity! We can’t slow it down, we can’t speed it up, we can’t escape from its seasons. Time, like everything else we’ve talked about up this point, it can feel meaningless when we view it through a purely human lens.

But listen, here’s what Solomon wants us to see today. When time is reordered in our life…when its reordered under the grace and sovereignty of God, everything begins to change.

When we begin to trust the One who actually holds the seasons in His hands…when we begin to trust the One who stepped into time itself through the person of Jesus…when we begin to acknowledge the great majesty of God in creating time…we begin to see that life isn’t just a cycle of meaningless repetition…its a story being authored by a sovereign God, full of purpose in every single moment.

Listen, as we dive into this text…the overarching question, its not, “How do I control time or better manage time?” It’s, “How do I live well in the time I’ve been given?”…“How do I live meaningfully in a world where everything’s temporary?”

Solomon’s answer in this section, its very clear…God’s sovereign, especially over our lives and especially over time…and so, trust Him…obey Him. Live with eternity in mind…respond with faith in who you know He is…Peace and purpose, those things are yours, especially in the earthly time God’s given you…they’re yours when you trust and obey.

And so, if you’re talking notes this morning…I have three points or three questions for us as we walk through chapter 3 together…Point number 1, Am I trusting God with the season I’m in?…number 2, Am I looking for meaning beyond the moment?…and then number 3, Am I living fully in light of God’s sovereignty?

And so, if you’re there with me…let’s dive into this first section together.

I. Am I Trusting God with the Season I’m In? (vv. 1-8)

Point number 1…am I trusting God with the season I’m in?

Look at the first 8 verses with me again. It says this:

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 ESV

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Are you trusting God with the season you’re currently in?

Listen, as we come to this chapter, it opens with a sweeping, very poetic list of life’s different seasons, right?…there’s joy, there’s sorrow…there’s building and breaking…we see embracing, refraining.

Solomon says in verse 1, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” He’s showing us, life, its not random in any way…everything has an occasion…everything has a place.

For those of you that don’t know me…I absolutely love Lego! Its so fun for me to watch people come into my office for the first time, its like they don’t believe me when I say that until they see it for themselves. But one of my favorite Lego builds, it was my UCS Millennium Falcon…and if you don’t know what that is, well then shame on you. But listen, this Lego, its about 8 thousand pieces. It’s one of the largest Lego sets there is and it took me about a month and a half or so to build. In fact, it sat on our dinner table that whole time…Brittany loved it!…But for about the first 4,000 pieces or so, all I did was build the frame to this set, the insides of this ship that no one else can even see.

If you’ve ever built a Lego or maybe a piece of furniture…you know that success, its achieved when you work piece by piece, right? Using all the right pieces, in all the right places, at all the right times.

David Gibson gives the same illustration in his book and he says, “If you’re trying to build a model to match the picture on the box, then going freestyle [with it] is usually a recipe for disaster.” You see, to get that picture…I had spend a majority of the time putting together pieces that made no sense at the start…maybe they didn’t bring initial joy…some of it looked nothing like a Millennium Falcon…But to get to that picture, every piece had to be used at the right time and put in the right place.

Listen, Solomon, he’s showing his reader here…our lives, in the same way a Lego set’s built, our lives are built piece by piece…they’re made up of people (people coming into our lives at just the right times)…they’re made up of circumstances and places…experiences. And all of those things, they’re being locked together to make up our individual stories. Sometimes its hard for us to see the significance of that tiny piece until much later on. Sometimes it seems like there’s a brick missing. Or sometimes there’s joy as a piece clicks in it’s proper place.

Listen, the only difference, besides the obvious, between us and Lego…we’re not the one’s with the instruction manual spread out over the table as we build it…God is!

As Christians, we hold firmly to the idea that life, it wasn’t created by some random, chaotic set of events. Right? What we see around us, it wasn’t created by non-living matter coming into contact with one another. It’s not just some chemical reactions or this idea of natural selection or evolution. That’s us looking at the picture on the box and us trying to build something without the instruction manual.

Life came into existence through order, not chaos…everything had its place…everything had a pattern.

And listen, I think we all acknowledge that here this morning. We know the lies our culture tells us about things like creation and evolution. And yet, at the same time…knowing that there’s order for everything…we fail to acknowledge how God patterns our lives today. We fail to acknowledge God’s sovereignty. Because let’s be honest, not every season feels purposeful, right? Some seasons feel like setbacks, not steps forward. And that’s where trust and faith come in.

David Gibson puts it this way, “God gives us times and seasons so that we’ll learn to be shaped by them, not try to control them. We’re not the master of time - He is.”

Listen, every piece of your life, every season, in the hands of the builder, every piece fits perfectly. That painful season…That delay…The joy…Every piece is part of something greater that God’s building. The full picture, the whole of your life, its being assembled by God, one piece at a time.

Solomon’s showing us that when we remove God, time becomes vanity…because those seasons that are meant to have purpose…they come and they go, minus the builder…they come and they go without contributing to the larger build itself…and it becomes vanity.

But when you see and when you acknowledge the seasons of your life and the author of your story…you’re able to rest in God’s provision…in God’s grace…in His sovereignty…not because you’ll always understand it…but because you trust Him.

Alistair Begg, he said, “The doctrine of God’s providence doesn’t eliminate confusion, but it [does] gives us comfort. Because we know who’s holding the pieces.”

That’s why Solomon says, “There’s a time to be born, and a time die…there’s a time to weep, and a time to laugh…there’s a time to mourn, and a time to dance…a time to love, and a time to hate.” There’s so many examples he gives here. Yes, we’re gonna have high moments and low moments. We’re gonna smile and laugh…at times, we’re gonna cry and grieve…there’s gonna be times where we’re motivated by love…and there’s gonna be times where we’re motivated by hate. And its okay to experience this plethora of emotions…its okay to not understand the season you’re in sometimes…or to ask, “why?” at times. But listen, our thought process should never be, “How do I get out of this season I’m currently in.” Instead, it should be, “How’s God using this, how’s He shaping me through whatever it is I’m walking through?”

Do you believe there’s purpose in your seasons? Do you believe there’s order and structure in how God’s building your life?

Don’t be like those crazy scientist who believe that life came from non-life, that life came from chaos…See the author of your story and trust in what He’s written for your life.

Psalm 139, verses 13 through 18:

Psalm 139:13–16 ESV

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Or Jeremiah 1:5

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;

Of course, He’s talking to Jeremiah here…but this is the same God over your life and over my life today. God doesn’t just have an intimate knowledge of our lives…He has a purposeful plan.

That’s why Paul says in Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Or Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

All things are able to come together for good because God’s in control…He’s the author! And listen, for Paul to say that all things’ll come together for good…it means there has to be some bad things that’ll lead to the good.

Listen, acknowledge who God is, the control He has…Acknowledge His power, His sovereignty…As a child of God, find rest in Him through faith. Trust that your seasons, good or bad, are being used to build something much greater…Which leads us into our second point.

II. Am I Looking for Meaning Beyond the Moment? (vv. 9-11)

Am I looking for meaning beyond the moment?

Listen, a lot of times, verses 1 through 8, preachers kind of isolate those verses to themselves…thinking that somehow they can be understood alone. But the real meaning here, it can only be understood by looking at what Solomon shows us in the rest of these verses.

The poetry we see here, in this first section, its just setting up a much larger problem that most of us try to resolve on our own…and he’s bringing it back to his main idea, to show us, that time is vanity because of how we deal with it.

Look at verses 9 through 11 with me again.

Ecclesiastes 3:9–11 ESV

What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 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.

Solomon, he moves from the poem about time…and he asks us a very deep question, “What gain has the worker from his toil?” In other words…as he’s been saying, “What’s the point?” If everything has it’s time and its seasons…what’s it all add up to? What do we really gain at the end of it?

And as he’s been showing us, the answer to that question, apart from God, its nothing! If we only live moment by moment, season by season…if we live without ever lifting our eyes above the sun, it’ll always feel like we’re just stuck in this constant loop…almost like the treadmill of life that never ends.

And so, he asks that question, “What gain has the worker from his toil?” and then he shifts again. Verse 11:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

He’s made everything beautiful in its time.

Listen, this verse, it might just be one of the most misquoted, misunderstood verses in all of Ecclesiastes. It’s not saying that everything’s just lovely. Solomon’s saying that God, in His sovereignty, assigns beauty and value to the moments of our life, even the hard ones…Because listen, He sees the full picture.

It’s like that Lego analogy I used earlier…what looks chaotic in the moment, its actually part of a larger design that we’re simply too limited to see.

And so, Solomon says, “He’s made everything beautiful in its time.” And then he writes, “Also, he’s put eternity into man’s heart.”

Listen, that statement…its key to this entire passage. God, He’s wired you and me with a sense that there’s more to life than what we can see. Every one of us, we feel it…we feel that desire for purpose…we feel a longing for justice…we ache for eternity because we were made for eternity. It’s stamped on our hearts. We’re made in God’s image, and because He’s eternal, we carry within us a longing for something that goes beyond the temporary.

And yet…because of our state…we can’t grasp what we long for.

He says, “He’s put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he can’t find out what God’s done from the beginning to the end.”

Can you feel the tension in this verse? God’s given us this desire for eternal significance but yet He hasn’t given us the full map, per say. We don’t get to see how all the pieces fit together right now. We live with eternity in our heart, but limits in our understanding.

The point here…he’s building from chapter 2…we’re not God…we’re finite beings, created solely for the glory of God. And yet, our greatest desire, its to be something we’re not…we wanna know…we wanna master…we wanna solve time and solve life…but listen to Solomon, we can’t. We’re not meant to. That’s not our job…that’s not what we were created for.

That’s why Solomon ended chapter 2 by saying that work and enjoyment, pleasure…those things were all gifts from God. We don’t create meaning…we receive it. We don’t control time…we live faithfully in what’s been given to us. As receivers, we have to acknowledge we’re not God and we have to accept our limitations…we have to see those things as gifts in themselves…that’s how we can live with joy.

When we stop trying to be God, we can start enjoying the gifts He’s placed in front of us.

Listen, let me be real with you for just a moment…several years ago, we went through some really hard things here, right? We walked through a church split…and no matter how you wanna slice that, it was hard…it was devastating…we loss brothers and sisters. Some of us lost family members through that. It was hard. And trust me when I say this…there hasn’t been a week that’s passed by that I haven’t thought about that…that I haven’t cried over that.

But let me share two things with you about that incident and apply it to what Solomon’s saying here.

Number 1, God’s sovereign. He alone allowed us to walk through that time…and we have to acknowledge that. That was a planned season for FBC. We’re a different church body today because of that. And that’s not to say that we’re better or worse off today, I’m just saying we’re different as a result of what we’ve walked through together.

For those of us that were here during that time, that season changed us in ways, right? And the reason for that, its because that season was a building block for a greater build God’s already planned for us as individuals and for us as a church body.

But listen…number 2, I wanna be careful with this…because that also can’t be an excuse for us. Just because there’s a season for all things…and just because God’s sovereign, it doesn’t take away our human responsibility. God simply worked through our hearts and through our deeds during that time, to bring us to the place He wanted.

Listen, I think about this all the time…I was young in ministry. I was zealous. I wanted to be involved in everything…I was a micro-manager…(And listen, let me just say this…micro-managing’s not a personally trait…its an idol…so if you use that as an excuse for how you lead, you got some idolatry that you need to deal with). But listen, I thought if I wasn’t involved in everything, those things wouldn’t get done…or it wouldn’t get done right…or it’d just take more time in the end. I didn’t take breaks…I wasn’t good at equipping and empowering people…I didn’t do well trusting others. I saw the picture, I saw what God wanted us to be, and I worked (by my own effort) to build that picture my way.

Listen, you know what my problem was deep down? I thought I was God…because I thought that only I was capable or that only my opinions mattered.

I’m not saying that I could’ve changed the season we were in…but I do believe, in hindsight, we could’ve walked through it differently. And that’s what keeps me up the most at night. I didn’t realize I had an idolatry problem…I didn’t realize I was chasing the wind.

My call as a pastor, its to preach and to teach you…all with the purposes of equipping you for the work of ministry.

And listen, that’s why I’ve stepped back when it comes to decisions in our church now. It’s why I don’t vote for congregational decisions…its why I don’t sit in most board meetings or why I’m not involved with writing our new constitution…because I realize, I’m not called for that…I’m not God. I’m not in charge…I’m not the smartest person…I’m not the only person capable…I’m the under-shepherd, and I’m called to equip.

God used that season to redirect me…to grow me, as a young pastor…but listen to me, if I would’ve saw the limits God placed over me as gifts in the first place…again, that season would’ve looked a lot different.

Guys, we have limits…we’re not all gifted in the same things…We have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year…nothing you or I do about that will ever change God’s design. God’s placed limits over us…and when we don’t acknowledge those limits and when we don’t see them for what they are…when we don’t see those limits as gifts…we become like I was…we begin thinking we’re gods that have no limits.

Why do we need rest? Because we’re not God who exists outside of time. Why do we need a church family to be successful in the Great Commission? Why do we need all these different individual gifts? Because we’re not God who’s all powerful.

Listen, I’m not saying I’m perfect today…because I’m certainly not…but as I operate within the limits God’s placed on my life…it brings me joy. I realize I’m not the most gifted here…especially for all the different types of ministries we have in place here at FBC. I realize I’m limited by time…I can only do so much…And so, when I let go of things and begin to empower others as I’m called to do, I get to steward my limited time in better ways that actually bring me joy. My limits aren’t bad…my limits are gifts meant to bring me satisfaction as I find rest in God.

Is it hard sometimes to operate within those limits? Yea, absolutely! Like stepping away from the constitution committee, it was hard for me. There’s a lot of input I wanna have…there’s a lot of opinions I wanna share. It’s like letting your 16 or 17 year old get behind the wheel of the car. It’s scary…it’s all out of your control…but that’s the point…we’re not called to be in control…we’re called to trust and obey.

So here’s a question for you, “Are you looking beyond this moment? Are you trying to squeeze eternal meaning out of temporary things—Or listen, are you trusting the eternal God with your present season, trusting that He’s the one writing the story?”

Let me say it like this: meaning is found not in the moment itself, its found in the Maker of that moment. And because God’s eternal, even the most fleeting seasons can be filled with His purpose. The limits He’s placed over us, those things can be filled with His purpose.

And so what do we do with that? That leads us into our third and final question.

III. Am I Living Fully in Light of God’s Sovereignty? (vv. 12-15)

Am I living fully in light of God’s sovereignty?

Look at this last section with me again. It says this, starting in verse 12:

Ecclesiastes 3:12–15 ESV

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

To piggy back off our last point…Solomon’s conclusion here, he saying…we’re not in control, and that’s actually good news.

Solomon says, “Be joyful…do good. Receive daily life…your work, your meals, your time…receive all of it with gratitude.

And that might seem overly simple, right? Like, if you’ve been reading along with us…Solomon, he’s been really diving deep, he’s been exposing the vanity of life apart from God…he’s been asking these huge philosophical questions…and now, he lands with, “Just be joyful. Do good. Enjoy food!”

But here’s the thing…its only simple when you trust God’s actually in control. It’s hard letting go…its hard for us to place trust in something we can’t see or feel or touch. It’s only easy when you acknowledge God’s sovereignty…that He’s writing the story, that He knows the beginning from the end…its acknowledging that His works are eternal…It’s only when you actually believe those things, only then can you let go and relax. And listen, you’re able to enjoy the moment, not because the moment is perfect, but because the God behind it is!

And so, its easy to say trust in God’s sovereignty, right?…but like, whats that actually mean?

Listen, this is what it means to live in light of that truth. It means…you don’t have to obsess over every outcome. It means, you don’t have manipulate every moment. It means, you don’t have to panic when things don’t go your way.

Instead, live faithfully…Do good, rejoice…be grateful…trusting the One you follow, is actually in control.

And why should we live that way? Because Solomon says, “Whatever God does, it endures forever.”

Listen, your efforts, they’re gonna fade. Your job, it might change tomorrow. Your seasons, they’ll come and go. But what God does, those things endure forever! That means when you join Him in His purposes…when you’re faithful to walk in what He’s called…even when those things seem small…you’re apart of something eternal…things that last forever.

That’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58:

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Listen, because God’s sovereign…it means you’re not spinning your wheels…you’re sowing into eternity.

Solomon says God’s done this “so that people fear before him.” This isn’t fear like horror movie fear, we’ve talked about this already—it’s reverence. It’s awe. It’s trust. It’s saying: “God, I don’t understand everything, but I trust You know exactly what You’re doing.”

And then in verse 15, Solomon adds this somewhat confusing line:

Ecclesiastes 3:15 ESV

That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

That’s poetic language…but listen, here’s what he’s getting at: God stands outside of time. He sees the beginning, He sees the middle, the end…all of it at once. What’s new to us isn’t new to Him. What seems random to us, its already woven into His eternal purposes.

And that last phrase—“God seeks what’s been driven away”—that’s a beautiful picture of redemption. It means God’s not just keeping the story on track—He’s actively restoring what’s been lost. 

Maybe you’re here this morning, and your story has some pieces you wish could be undone. Some broken moments. Some hard chapters. This verse, it reminds us that God doesn’t just let those things go—He seeks them out. He redeems. He restores.

So let me ask you again: Are you living fully in light of God’s sovereignty?

Are you resting in the truth that God’s purposes will stand, even when yours fall apart?

Are you finding joy in the day-to-day—not because everything’s easy, but because everything has meaning in God’s hands?

Are you letting go of the need to be in control, so that you can worship the One who already is?

Here’s the bottom line: You won’t live well in the time you’ve been given until you trust the One who gave it to you.

And so guys, whatever season you’re in today—joyful, sorrowful, rebuilding, uncertain—don’t waste it trying to escape it. Instead, ask: “God, how are You using this to shape me?” “How can I be more faithful in this moment?” “What does joy look like today, even here?”

Trust the Builder. Look beyond the moment. Live with purpose under His sovereign hand.

Amen?

Closing

Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Listen, as we close this morning, I just wanna ask you to take a moment…Don’t rush past this. Don’t brush off what the Spirit might be doing in your heart right now.

What season are you in?…Right now?

Maybe it’s a season of joy—praise God for that! Thank Him. Rejoice in the gift.

Maybe you’re walking through something hard, something painful, something that doesn’t make much sense. Maybe you’ve been trying to escape it, or ignore it, or control it. Can I just encourage you? Again, Trust the Builder. Surrender that season to the One who holds all time in His hands.

Ask Him right now:

“Lord, how do You wanna shape me through this?” “How can I be faithful with what You’ve given me?” “Help me to see my limits not as failures, but as invitations to trust You more deeply.”

But listen, maybe for some of you… this morning’s not just about a season you’re in. Maybe it’s about the direction of your life. Maybe you’ve been living as if you’re the one writing the story—maybe you’ve never surrendered to Jesus, the One who stepped into time to rescue and redeem you…Today could be the day you trust Him—not just with your season, but with your eternity.

Listen, if that’s you, understand the gospel. Every one of us, we’re sinners who will die at some point in our lives because of sin. And there’s nothing we can do about that. That’s our fate.

But God, who’s eternal…He took on flesh through His Son Jesus…And Jesus lived a perfect live all so that He could go to the cross as a perfect substitute. And on the cross, He wore the weight of our sin…He took on the wrath of God. In some ways, you could say He took on His own wrath so that we could have a restored relationship with Him. It’s an incredible story…but it doesn’t end there. The story of the Bible, it tells us that to receive this gift of salvation…to receive this gift of life…all we have to do is confess Jesus as Lord, turn to Him…repent…and believe that He raised from the death. Salvation, its the free gift of God…and all you have to do is receive it.

And so listen, the praise team’s gonna play…I want you to take this time…be serious about what the Lord’s putting on your heart. And when we’re done, I’ll close us in just a moment. You take this time!

Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You’re the Sovereign One—that You’re not surprised by our seasons. You’re not limited by time like we are. You’re the Author of our story. Help us to rest in You… to trust You… and to live with eternity in mind. Teach us to number our days and to live with purpose, not panic. Make us a people who walk in wisdom, who live for Your glory in every season—because You are worthy.

We pray this in the name of Jesus… Amen.