Who Controls the World?

Kid’s Takeaway of the Day “God Controls Time”

Main idea of the Day: God is in control of time, and it is the good work of man to obey him by enjoying his Good works and living in the tension of the things that seem evil or bad.

Verse of the Day: Ecclesiastes 3:1 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:”

Who Controls the World?

in 2011 Beyonce taught us that girls run the world asking and answering:

Who run the world? Girls (Girls) Who run the world? Girls (Girls) Who run the world? Girls (Girls) Who run the world? Girls (Girls)

Who run the world? G-G-Girls (Girls)

A slightly more historical approach might lead the philosopher to a different group of people who run the world; perhaps kings, arostocracy, the rich, the powerful, the mighty or the wise. A democratic approach might say, the mobs, masses, or the people. Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 is an all-too-common refrain in my own heart. I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 3:1–22 ESV

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. 16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

How do you determine when to plant something in the ground? When should you plant a tomato plant outside? When should you pick an apple from an apple tree? In their due season. You can plant a tomato plant on that sunny warm day in March, but you probably won’t have any plant left in a few days. You can pick an apple in May, but you won’t have much of an apple to eat, and it wouldn’t taste very good. Times and seasons are appointed, but not by you. It is best for you to realize what season it is and garden accordingly.

In a movie production the actor is seen as the primary initiator of lines and events and action. However, it is really the director behind the camera who is specifying what lines go and actions go where. The actor learns the lines and then recites them once queued. Similarly, Quohllete wants us to know that God is directing things, and our proper recitation the line, God, I fecognize this life event as from the hand of God, and I thank you for it as I live through it.

“They cannot discover the key to unlock the mystery—the almanac that enables them to predict and to control the times and thus make the “gains” they so desire.” -Lain Provan

We do well to study history; we do well to study politics so we can work to shape the future, but only God understands it all, and the best we can do is to live in the moment as a gift from God.

“God is responsible for giving both time and eternity, and the human being is caught in the tension between the two.” -Choon-Leong Seow