Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 “The Balance of Life”

Main Truth: Life is short — but it’s not meaningless when viewed through eternity. Gospel Connection: Christ redeems our time and gives eternal significance to our fleeting days.

LIFE ISN’T RANDOM (BUT IT OFTEN FEELS LIKE IT)

Have you ever had a moment where life just didn’t make sense?

One day everything is going great

your relationships feel good,

plans are on track,

you feel like you’re winning.

Then suddenly, something shifts.

A friendship changes.

Your motivation falls apart.

You feel stuck, or overwhelmed, or confused,

and you can’t explain why.

Ecclesiastes 3 speaks directly into that experience.

After showing us the emptiness of chasing meaning in wisdom, pleasure, or work,

Solomon now lifts our eyes to something bigger.

He says, ‘If life feels out of control… it’s because you’re not the one controlling it.’ 

But that’s not meant to scare you

it’s meant to free you.

God is the One who holds every season, every moment, every up and every down.

Your life is not a series of accidents.

It’s a story being written by the God who has perfect timing.

READ THE TEXT

Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 ESV

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a 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. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. 14 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. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

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

GOD ORCHESTRATES THE SEASONS OF LIFE

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 ESV

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a 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.

Solomon opens with a powerful statement:

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

He then lists 14 pairs

birth and death,

planting and uprooting,

tears and laughter,

mourning and dancing.

These aren’t random opposites.

They represent the full range of human experience.

What Solomon Is Teaching:

We will go through seasons that feel opposite, uncomfortable, and unpredictable

but not one of them is outside God’s control or God’s timing.

There are seasons you enter willingly 

new friendships, new opportunities, growth.

There are seasons you would never choose 

loss, confusion, heartbreak.

There are seasons that make sense only when looking back.

And there are seasons that may never fully make sense until eternity.

God’s Message Through Solomon:

You are not the author of time but you are held by the One who is.

Every season has a place in the story God is writing.

Illustration — The Season Wheel

Hold up a simple wheel divided into four labeled sections.

Explain:

Spring — new beginnings, energy, excitement.

Summer — growth, productivity, momentum.

Fall — transition, change, letting go.

Winter — quietness, difficulty, waiting, pruning.

You will go through all four

multiple times in your life.

The question isn’t ‘How do I control my season?’ 

but ‘How do I trust God in my season?’”

Biblical Support:

Psalm 31:15 — “My times are in Your hands.”

Daniel 2:21 — God changes times and seasons.

Isaiah 55:9 — God’s ways are higher than ours.

Application:

Ask: “What season are you fighting because you don’t understand it? What might God be trying to grow in you that this season makes possible?”

LIFE FEELS HEAVY BECAUSE WE WERE MADE FOR ETERNITY

Ecclesiastes 3:9–11 ESV

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.

Verse 11 is huge:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart…”

Why nothing in life ever fully satisfies:

We were not made for a 70–90-year lifespan.

We were not made for temporary pleasures.

We were not made for shallow meaning.

We were not made to find ultimate satisfaction in anything under the sun.

God wired eternity into our souls.

It’s why success doesn’t last.

It’s why pleasure fades quickly.

It’s why relationships, as good as they are, can’t fully heal our hearts.

It’s why every human being feels a sense of longing

even when life is good.

The Frustration We All Feel:

We experience moments of beauty

glimpses of joy, peace, meaning

but they never stay long enough.

Because they weren’t designed to.

Temporary things cannot fill eternal hearts.

Illustration — The Long Rope

Hold a rope stretched out. Tape a small section near the end.

The red part is your entire life on earth

your school years, adulthood, career, relationships, everything.

The rest of the rope represents eternity.

Most people live their whole life obsessed with this tiny red section,

while ignoring the billions-on-billions-on-billions of years represented by the rest.

Cross References:

2 Corinthians 4:18 — Fix your eyes on the unseen, eternal things.

John 6:27 — Don’t work for food that perishes.

Philippians 3:20 — our citizenship is in heaven.

Application:

Ask: “If you lived with eternity in mind, what would change about the way you use your time, your energy, your priorities?”

WORK IS GOOD, BUT IT IS NOT GOD

Ecclesiastes 3:12–15 ESV

12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. 14 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. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Solomon now addresses how we are supposed to live in these God-ruled seasons. His answer might surprise you.

He doesn’t say:

“Stop working.”

“Stop enjoying life.”

“Stop building things.”

He actually says the opposite:

“There is nothing better than to rejoice, do good, and enjoy your work as a gift from God.”

The Biblical View of Work:

Work existed before sin. (Genesis 2:15)

Work reflects God’s character. (God is a Creator and Worker.)

Work is one of the primary places we worship. (Col. 3:23)

Work is holy. Work is good. Hard work honors God.

But here’s Solomon’s warning:

Work becomes a burden when we expect it to do what only God can do.

Work can provide a paycheck — but it cannot provide purpose.

Work can fill your time — but it cannot fill your heart.

Work can build your resume — but it cannot redeem your soul.

Key Line:

Work makes a great calling… but a terrible god.

The Wrong Address Package Delivery (Very Visual & Relatable)

Imagine ordering something expensive online

a new pair of shoes,

a gaming headset,

or something you’ve saved for.

You track the package obsessively.

You get the notification: Delivered.

But when you check the porch… nothing.

The package was delivered

just to the wrong address.

It’s not that the delivery driver didn’t work hard.

It’s not that the truck didn’t travel.

It’s not that there was no effort.

Everything was done with energy,

but not in the right direction.

Teaching Connection:

You can work incredibly hard at life

school, sports, your job, grinding, hustling, achieving

but if the destination is wrong,

the effort doesn’t matter.

Solomon says work is good,

but it’s wasted when it’s disconnected from God and eternity.

Cross References:

Matthew 6:33 — Seek first the kingdom of God.

Psalm 127:1 — Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain.

Ephesians 2:10 — We are created for good works God prepared beforehand.(Meaning: even your work was meant to be done with God, for God, through God.)

Application Questions:

“Is your identity tied to what you produce

or who you follow?”

“Do you work to be loved…

or because you are loved?”

“Is Jesus part of your work

or the purpose behind it?”

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Ask students:

“What season of life are you trying to control instead of trusting God with?”

“What are you pouring time into that won’t matter 100 years from now?”

“Where do you see your priorities drifting?”

THE GOSPEL CONNECTION:

JESUS REDEEMS TIME

Jesus stepped into time to redeem it.

He lived perfectly in every season

suffering, joy, work, rest, obedience.

On the cross, He took our wasted years and our sinful priorities.

In the resurrection, He offers new life with new purpose.

Cross References:

John 10:10 — Life abundantly.

Ephesians 5:15–16 — “Redeeming the time…”

Colossians 1:17 — “In Him all things hold together.”

Gospel Landing:

In Christ, no season is wasted and no moment is meaningless. He fills our time with eternal purpose.