chapter 3, and finding meaning in a meaningless world. And this tonight is a season and a time. In life there's times, there's seasons, and everything Changes. Things are always changing, but at the same time, nothing changes. But a lot of times people, those transitions in life and those changes in life, they have a difficult time with. And I think the Bible helps us with that here. So we're gonna read through this, 1 through 15, and then we will go back through it. All right, Ecclesiastes 3.1. To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck that which is planted. A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to break down, and a time to build up. A time to weep, 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 get, and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, a time to sow, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace. What prophet hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful in His time, Also, He has set the world in their heart so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and do good in his life, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it. God doeth it that men should fear before Him. That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been. And God requireth that which is past. Alright? So, a season and a time. Season and a time. I love this passage, by the way. It's one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I've preached it at funerals, and I think there's a lot of wisdom in it. But look at verse 1. To everything there is a season and a time. To every purpose under heaven. So life, it's not random. Every experience comes with a season, a defined period of time, a specific moment, a time and a season. And most people in their life, they waste so much of their life looking for outcomes. But the most important thing is the time. and the season, and the outcome begins another time and another season. So there's a time and there's a season. And God works by times and seasons. So don't always obsess over results and outcomes, but learn to discern the time you're in, the season you're in, and the purposes that God is trying to bring about. It's not a list of outcomes, it's a list of times and seasons, and the purposes unfold in those times and seasons. Alright? So, that means God deals and processes. There's a process that happens. And you see that. There's a time, you think springtime, and if you've ever worked in agriculture, if you've ever worked with animals where you raise them for profit, there's a time, there's a season. There's a time, there's a season. And those things that happen. But people, when they're unaware of this, and they don't recognize this, they do the wrong thing at the wrong time and the wrong season. And so, for example, they want healing, but sometimes healing requires breaking. They want to laugh, but laughter is never so sweet without a season of weeping. They want joy, But sometimes you have to experience sorrow to recognize the season of joy. They want to build, but they don't want to tear anything down that's been built wrong, or in the wrong place, or by the wrong builder. It's timing. It's a season. So do you understand the season that you're in? and the purpose that God is trying to accomplish in your life in that season. What is God doing? And what I've learned is life is experienced pretty good when you do the right thing in the right season. And it's bad when you don't do the right thing in the right season. Why? Because there's a time when it starts and there's a time it lasts. There's an intended purpose, and they're temporary, and they come around once. Many of them. Some of them come around every year, but there are some seasons that in your life they come around once. And life is constantly changing. And so, without understanding this right, you're not going to have any profit. Look at verse 9. What profit hath he that worketh in that which he laboureth? You're never going to do anything permanent on this earth. Because the season always changes and what needs to be done changes. And the years come and the years go and nothing changes except for the people that experience the years that come and go. Now look at verse 14. And we'll come back to this. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. You're not really going to do anything. God's the one that does things. Anything that lasts. If you did it, you're not going to have any profit. You're not going to take it with you. It's not going to be eternal. It's not going to last. It's just under the sun, and nothing changes. If man could change things, it would have already changed. But they can't. It shall be done forever. Nothing can be put to it. You can't add, and we'll comment more on this later, nothing can be taken from it. God doeth it that men should fear before him. So what time is it? What season and what purpose is God doing? You see that in verse one? To everything there's a season, a time, every purpose under heaven. So when you're going through these seasons, what does God do? What purpose is in that season for you? What does God want? What is He trying to do? Because what He does will be forever. You know, every increment of change that we make as we grow up into the image of Jesus Christ, that will last forever. As He transforms us into Him. It doesn't go backwards. It only goes forward. And it's forever, and you can't add to it. You can't take from it. God doeth it that men should fear before Him. And so the purpose of these times and seasons is to bring us to God, to drive us to Him, because everything under heaven is hopeless. The world without God is meaningless. And there's no profit in it. So what is it? It's finding what God is doing in those seasons. Can I join in with the eternal? And He's teaching you right here in this passage how to discern what time you're in. And people, many times they miss it because they're looking for the fruit of another season And they're trying to pluck and they're trying to reap from a season that God doesn't have them in yet. And so, in here, as we go through this, I notice some things about seasons here. So look at verse two. So, to everything, there's a season and a time. And then, so verse two, it says, a time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted. So we see here that seasons have defined boundaries. They don't go on forever. I mean, everything in that season that encompasses all seasons, a time to be born and a time to die. And so that's the boundary. So what does God want to accomplish in your life between birth And when you lay this vessel in the grave, because it still has to pass through death, and the virus has to completely die, and then it has to be raised again. Okay? But in this life, before that happens, what does God want to accomplish? And we know, big picture, what He wants to accomplish is Romans 8.29. We know that. He wants you to be conformed to the image of His Son. So every other thing that fits inside of that, that's the purpose. And that's the boundaries that we have to work within. The time to be born and the time to die. A time to plan and a time to pluck that which is planted. So you see the boundary lines of life. And then you see the beginning and ending of processes. There's a start and then something has to end. And we don't choose those boundaries. We live within them. You didn't choose your beginning. And you're not going to choose your end. You don't choose that. I was driving down the road today and I was just thinking, Man, the years have come and the years have gone, and there's so many people that have been here, and they're now in eternity. And they're all, and now I'm here. This time in history. Now like what Mordecai said to Esther, who knows, God brought you here for such a time as this. And God's gonna get done what He wants to get done, but you are gonna miss out on the opportunity to do that. And so you're here. I heard a preacher one time say, you know, Wesley's not here. Spurgeon's not here. Paul's not here. You know who's here? You're here. And there's a start, there's a stop. Life exists in these boundaries. And what does that teach us? It teaches us humility. We're not the master of time. We just live within it. It teaches us stewardship. Your time has a distinct span, and it's not endless and open, at least this physical life. It teaches urgency. It teaches urgency. Man, I grew up around agriculture with the Amish people, and they had, boy, when it's time to plant, it's time to plant, and you do everything you can. You watch the weather, you make sure that you plow the field in time, not too early, not too late, because you want everything that you grew, the cover crop over the winter, you want it to put the nutrients into the soil. And then there's a time to disk, and those things, they have to be pretty tight to get those harvests in the right time, the right season. And then you pull it up and you reap it and that's it. It teaches urgency. So God wants you to understand about time is that you don't control the borders of your life. You just need to know the time and the season. And the only certain amount of time that you have and you ought to know about is the season you're in and the goals for that season. That's what you should focus on. And birth comes with a lot of pain. but I don't remember that. That was a different season. And death will come with pain, and I won't remember that either, but that's for that season. All right, so you plant. It's the beginning and ending, and it teaches you can only plant in planting season, and you can only harvest in harvest season, and no matter what, you can't harvest in winter, and you can't plant in a drought, and so look, You and I, we do not control these windows of opportunity. We don't. No two people are given the same ability. And no two people are given the same opportunity. But God requires that which is past. And you know what he's going to require of you? How your ability met with your opportunity in that time and in that season. All right? And a lot of people They look, it doesn't matter what's happening now, it doesn't matter what's happening now, one time I'll do one thing, and eventually I'll do this one thing, and that accomplishment, that will make up for all of this. And he said, no, God requires what that is best. Young people don't understand that they're gonna give account for that period of time, their youth. Middle age, young man, adult, Wherever you're at, you have to take advantage of that opportunity, understand what God is doing there. And don't waste your seed, and don't waste your effort. Start at the right time and end at the right time. And don't be upset at the change in season. Focus on the season you're in. You know what? You've probably noticed this. The weather's changing. Does anybody start feeling aches that they didn't recognize before? Yeah? And they're like, ooh, what is that? You know, when you grow up on a farm, you know what happens when the weather changes? The animals change their behavior. They start going crazy. The pigs will just pick up a stick and just run in circles and throw it in the air. Like, what is this pig doing? The leaves turn up and everything, nature is accustomed to this rhythm. The butterflies fly, the birds leave, they change their behavior. They know that the season changes, something has to change. And you know what people do is they're not aware of that, the change in season, and they struggle because of the season change and they don't respond properly. Sometimes they just try to freeze the season. Oh, why is my baby growing up? I wish they would stay two forever. No, you don't. You know, you can't freeze the season. Some people try to rush the season. I did that. I can't wait till I'm older and do this and do this. And always looking forward. And as a consequence, I lost the opportunity in that season because I was trying to rush it. Some people deny the season. They do that with toupees, right? They shave their beards off. All right, but they try to deny the season. Why, because they're upset that the season's changing. But you know there's good things in the next season? You know what, people that come down from up north, the Yankees I guess, they talk about how they love the cold, crisp air of winter in the snow. And although it's not planting and it's harvesting, there's some wonderful things in that season. And there were some good things in the season of youth. And there are some good things in the season that you're in. And God has instructions for that season. Recognize it. Because it's different. It changes. What He wants to do with you is different. Some people misinterpret the season. They rebel against the season. And a lot of people, unfortunately, you know what they do? They waste the season. You know? If you don't plant in time of harvest, you're going to be a poor man. If you observe the clouds, you're not going to reap. People do that. Well, it's too cold. You can't plant today. I remember one time, remember when they had the comic strips in the newspaper? Remember when there were such a thing as newspapers? There still might be, I've never seen one in a long time. But I saw one with, I think it was Dennis the Menace, right? And his dad's sitting there on the couch and he's like, it's dripping. It's raining and the roof is dripping, right? And he says to his dad, he's like, why don't you fix the roof? And he said, I can't, it's raining. And the next season, it's all dry. And he said, why don't you fix the roof? He said, I can't. It's not leaking. I'm just saying, God has wonderful things that he wants to do that nobody can add to and nobody can take away with. Find out what that is that God has for you. And don't bellyache over the season that's passed. because God has some things that are just as wonderful. I think they increase in beauty, you know? Because he's made everything beautiful in his time. So discern the season and the duty that belongs to that season. What is the duty? And all right, well, seasons, they come with defined boundaries. They come also with defined duties. Look at the next verse. Verse 3, there's a time to kill. I believe that. I believe capital punishment's in the Bible for a reason. I was talking to a person that spent his lifetime as a counselor with some horrific cases. And he said, some people cannot be rehabilitated. They cannot. And he said, that's why capital punishment's in the Bible. You know, and there's a time for that. And the Bible defines what those are. Capital punishment's there. There's a time to kill. There's a time to heal. There's a time to break down. There's a time to build up. But, you know, there's some things in your life you probably need to kill. Some habits. Some relationships. There's a time for that. And that doesn't last forever. Some people never get out of their season. And they kill every relationship in their life. But you can't stay in that season. Ending something. You have to end things that cannot be saved. You have to abandon that which is draining life. And let die what God is done with. There's a time to kill. Alright? And it takes courage, and you should end whatever God does not want to continue. And you cannot heal what God has commanded to be put to death. You can't redeem it. God said, finish it, right? So don't, if you hold on what needs to be killed, then you poison the next season, because there's a time to heal. Once something has been ended, once something has been confronted, once something has been corrected, The next dewey is restoring what needs to be restored, and repairing what needs to be repaired, and healing wounds that need to be healed. You know, there's many people that they get upset by what has happened to them, and rightfully so, it was wrong. But they won't confront it. They won't kill it. They won't judge it. They won't do with what God said to do about that thing. And it just lingers. And so there can never be healing. Because they're always focused on this happened, and they never killed the things that needed to be killed. And so they can't heal. And it poisons because they're always focusing on the judgment, the justice, that should have happened, that needs to happen, that should happen. And they don't even judge their own self and what God wants to do in them. And so that they never, time doesn't do its work. As long as the poison's there, as long as the weed is there, time does not heal a wound. It makes them worse. Things fester. They get gangrenous. It's not time. It's the Lord that heals. Alright? And so, you have to recover. You have to rest. You have to rebuild. Not every season is war. Alright? And people want to heal in the season they should be killing, and they want to heal in the season they should be healing. Alright? They're said there's a time to break down. That's the deliberate dismantling and removing old structures. You know, there are things that need to be dismantled. There's structures and there's different things that the churches fell into and they need to be examined and they need to be dismantled because they're not in line with what God wanted. And some ministries need to be torn down. You can't build on a cracked foundation. And it's something that God no longer has. Maybe it was for a time, but it's done. God's done with that, and we do too. All right? And you'll never build until you break down the old. And any builder knows, or any repairman knows, that demolition isn't always a bad thing. OK? People get nervous when you go in with a sledgehammer because they don't see the time of restoration. Oh, look at the holes and all this stuff, but there's new wires going in, there's new framework going in, there's new structure going in. And then we're going to build it and we're going to beautify it, but there's a time for that. A time to build up. You've got to build new habits. You've got to build new ministry and bring them in line with the Lord. You have to build new relationships. Okay? So, you can't build when God wants you to break down. You know, in dealing with Christians, you know, he said he, what's that verse in Jeremiah where he He tears down, and he breaks up, and he pulls down, and he plucks up. And you know, a lot of times when people get saved, they're like, man, there's so much big things that have to change, and they're getting ripped out of their life. And just things are just getting torn apart. It's like a demolition crew. And I tell them, that's how it starts. All of these old things, they have to go. And then all of these boulders, they have to be jackhammered up. They have to be dynamited up. And all these things have to be rooted out. But just look at the lot next to you that has a new house going on. And it follows this same pattern here. You remove the old. You remove the bad. You bust it up. You level it out. And then you build. And then what is the last part? And then you plant. You know the last thing that people do when they're building the house? They come in with the new sod and the new landscape and they begin to beautify it. And I don't know what stage you're in at life, but you definitely want to embrace that tearing down and that plucking and that dynamite thing. And then, it's a wonderful thing when God starts putting plants in your life. and building, and now he's beautifying, and things are, what a wonderful thing, but that will never happen. Embrace the season. Every season has defined duties, all right? And they're not optional, they're tied to the season. What duty is in this season? And people say, I want what I want, no matter what season it is. All right? And then number three, look at verse four. There's a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance. Every season produces certain emotional experiences. And you need to learn to embrace them. Because God said there's a time for that. And a lot of people, they try to pivot with their emotions. Rejection sometimes is too painful for people, so they pivot to anger, okay? But you have to remember that God gave us these emotions because he fulfills every longing in those emotions. And you have to embrace them. He that goeth forth weeping will doubtless come again with joy. But you have to go forth with weeping. You have to embrace it when there's a time to leave and a time to laugh and to mourn and to dance. Some seasons they come with this weeping, this personal pain. You know, I can't believe I did that. And a lot of people just try to ignore it, not think about it. No, embrace it. People carry with them lingering pain that was never resolved. And they just carry it with them their whole life because every time it comes up they go down another street and they just ignore it. And I've learned in life it's very healthy whenever something... Don't push that away. Sit there and say, what is this? God, what is this? And you know what I found in my life is sometimes those points hit and it's like, yeah, I can't believe I did that. Bored. I get it. I'm sorry. Thank you for paying for that. God, would you heal that? Would you make that I'm not that way anymore? Make me like you in that area. Don't let me do that anymore. And then, you know that song that says, and there's a verse in Hebrews, I can't think of it off the top of my head, but the blood still reaches deeper than the stain has gone. And when you process those things and people say, you did this, this is how it happens, it's like, yeah, I did do that, that was awful. But guess what? My Savior paid for that. And He forgave me. And He healed me. And He changed me. And that doesn't hurt anymore. And if you can't forgive me, I understand. It's okay. I was like that with myself one time too, but God has. So you embrace those things. There's a time for that weeping and disappointment. And betrayal. And unexpected changes. And then there's a time, a lot of people, they say, you know what, if I were more spiritual, this wouldn't upset me. No, that's not true. There's a time for it. If I trusted God, I wouldn't feel this way. That's a lie. Feel what God wants you to feel. Some seasons come with joy, there's a time to last. Sometimes it's spontaneous. Something good happens, relief comes. Prayers are answered. There's fruit. There's refreshment. And some people feel guilty for feeling happy. I learned a lot of this when I was going through grief. How can I feel happy when they're gone? How can I feel happy when there's so much pain in the world? No, God gives you joy, and it's sin not to embrace it. Because it comes from Him. And embrace it. Enjoy it. There's a time to mourn. This goes deeper than weeping. It's grieving a loss that you could not avoid. It could be the death of a loved one. It could be some inevitable change that happened in your life and that part of your life is just now, it's just gone. Your eyesight, your health, your ability to do something. And it's just done. And that can come with a time of grief, and you should embrace that. And it's not a lack of faith. God doesn't want you to dance when it's time for you to mourn. He wants you to mourn when it's time to mourn. And then there is a time to dance. Okay? Even if you're a Baptist, there's a time to dance. And what is that? That's celebration, this joy, you know? That's, hey, we're giving you a big raise, and it comes with a bonus, and the next week off. Well, that's the time to dance. That's the time to rejoice. Hey, so-and-so got saved that you were playing for. For all these years, they got saved. Remember this? This happened. See what God did here? You know, it's going to be okay. The test came back negative. Boy, you should learn to dance. And I'm kind of using it figuratively. If I danced, it would make everyone upset, okay? Right? But there has to be that outward expression of joy and celebration at what God has done. Okay? And that is maturity. It is immaturity. It is spiritual immaturity not to embrace these emotions that come with it. Do it when it's right. Alright, seasons come with required, defined timing. Look at this in verse 5. It says, there's a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Okay, this has to do with timing. It takes wisdom. Cast away stones. You know what they would do? They'd take the stones out of the field so they could plant it. There's a time for that. And then there's a time to gather stones together to build boundaries. Okay? Some things have to be done now. And some things have to be done later. You don't need a fence around an empty field that you can't plant in. There's timing. There's strategy. There's timing in relationships. There's wisdom to know when to act and when not to act. And a lot of people, they try to plant when they should be clearing. You know? They try to preach when they should be clearing. They try to go on to these things that they see as the next step, but God has something else. And there's seasons. There's seasons in life. I tell young parents, if you're faithful to church, okay, it's okay if you can't make all these functions. Just have a goal, I'm gonna keep my family in church. But you have to take care of your family when they're young. You have to do that. And there's seasons when that responsibility will diminish, and you can do some of these other things. But you can't neglect your family by themselves because you wanna go here, do this, and we're doing this together, and it just doesn't fit. You have to stay there with your sick family member. You have to help them. You have to minister to them. And you need to know when to act, all right? A time to gather stones together. Time to embrace. You know, there's a time to bring people, and I struggle with this one. There's a time to embrace. And there's a time to be skeptical. Right, Brother Cruz? Right? Like, maybe, but probably not. We'll see. There's a time to watch. and refrain from embracing, especially with your kids. There's a time to embrace, but there's a time to correct when you don't embrace and when boundaries are needed. But there's also a time when forgiveness needs to be shown and a restoration needs to be initiated. But all of those things, that season requires wisdom and timing. Alright, what does the Bible say later in Ecclesiastes? A wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. Judgment, is this the time? Both time and judgment. And I can tell you, that verse shows me that I need to grow in wisdom. You need to draw to God on that. Is this the time? I know what God wants to do. Is this when? And you gotta grow in that, all right? Look at verse six. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. So there's defined needs for each season. When you're a baby, you need diapers, okay? You don't need them when you're a young man. You still don't need the bottle. You gotta get rid of it. There's a time to Get things and there's the time to let them go and discard them. All right, so there's need you got to get, there's release, lose, there's preserve, keep, and discard, cast away. And if you mismanage that need, you might become a hoarder, you know? Do you really still need your first bottle that you had? Do you still need to, I don't know why people collect their discarded body parts, like this was my tooth. I don't like this. Maybe you do that, I'm not saying that it's wrong, okay? But there are some things that you need to throw, maybe, I'm sorry about bringing up your tooth, okay? But maybe there's some things that need to be thrown away. Catholics are like that, they collect this memorabilia, right? You know how people are like, this was Jordan's shoe, and he did this with it, and now I have the shoe? And the Catholics are like, this was so-and-so's bone. I'm like, what is all this memorabilia? And that religion, right, the Shroud of Turin and all those things. But some people, you act like you're a hero because you correct memorabilia for yourself, you know? Here was my first ribbon when I did this. You're not that important. There's a time to discard and cast away, all right? And don't keep what God is taking. Right? Don't keep it. If God's trying to take it, let it go. And discern the need of the moment. What do I need now? What do I need to get rid of? Alright, look at verse 7. A time to rend and a time to sell. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. Every season needs a defined direction. Is this the time to rend? Separate? Or is this the time to put things together? Is this a time where I need to react by not saying anything? Or is this a time where I need to given action. Is it a time to confront? Is it a time to repair? Is it a time to speak? Or is it a time to stay silent? And you need to discern if this is a rending moment or a sowing moment. Because it can be, if you don't discern that, you're going to do the wrong thing in that season. Because God has some times where he's rending things. And he's intentionally purging and he's separating. And it happens in our lives. Know what to do, pray about it, stay close to the Lord. And it says, and then every season needs a goal. There's a time of love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. What is the aim of the season? Is it to pursue unity or is it to take a stand against destructive things? Is it to defend and contend and resist or is it to reconcile and unify? And when you do the wrong goal in the wrong season, your life becomes chaotic instead of organized. Don't love when you should be opposing. That's compromise. Don't oppose when you should be loving, that's coldness. Don't fight when you should be healing, that's destructive. And don't make peace when you should be building a fence and making war, because you're inviting danger in. And these things can be difficult to work through at times, but you have to understand these things in your season. Verse nine, what profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth." Seasons are temporary. And you know the frustration comes because you can't force the outcomes in a world, in a life that's governed by seasons. You can only act faithfully to what God has put you in. And people are like pursuing profit. trying to, instead of obedience to God and being close to God, all right? And then what profit has he there? So they reveal the limits of human achievement. So don't live a life that's frustrated by always looking for outcomes, because you can't beat the season and you can't skip it. All right, and then look at verse 10. Seasons are God's tool for shaping you. And we went over this last week in the previous chapter. But I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Remember Acts 17, in Him we live and move and have our being. He set the bounds of our habitation that we might happily seek after the Lord and feel after Him and find Him though He be not far from every one of us. So God has given us this travail where we're trying to achieve something in this season and it's always elusive. And there's this pain, what does all this mean? What does all this mean? And instead of just killing us, He allowed us to go on with the promises He gave to Adam and Genesis, and I'm going to come take care of this. But He makes sure that we're never satisfied with anything that we accomplish in these seasons. And it's just, it's painful at times. But that's a gift that He has given you. So you don't get connected here and you realize the futility of everything under the sun. And you're looking, instead of for what you do, you're looking for what God is doing. And here's the key thing. He hath made, verse 11, everything beautiful in its time. God's making, He wants to do something in your life right now that's beautiful. in this season. And you're always focused on what you're doing, and there's no profit in that. It's only what God's doing. What is he doing in your life in this season? So that's the whole thing. God has me in this season of sorrow, what is he doing? Because whatever he's making is beautiful. Now look at this next part. Also he has set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from beginning to end." That doesn't mean that if you love the world that God gave you a love for the world. He said the world in your heart, He's blocked our view outside of Scripture, and back then especially, right? Job went through that. You don't know how all this fits together. He has you pulling these things out, the stones out of the field in this season, but you don't know what He's going to have you plant in the next season. You don't know that. All you know is He is good, and everything He does is forever, and you can't add to it, and you can't take away, and all you know is whatever He's doing, it's beautiful, In His time, when I see what He was doing, it will be beautiful. And I can't see it now, but there's this block. When I think about that, I think about Job 23. He said, I wish I knew where I could find Him. And I'd lay my arguments before Him. And He said, would He argue against me with His power? No, He would put strength in me. And He said, I go backward and I can't perceive Him. I go to the right and the left and He's not there. He says, He hideth Himself. I cannot see Him. Then He said this, but He knoweth the way that I take. And when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 2310, like I can't see what God's doing, but when he's done, it's going to look like gold. It's going to be beautiful. We got to trust him. He's a good father. OK. Not in your time, in his time. Not when you want the outcome. But whenever it's time. Alright? And then look at verse 12. I know there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and do good in his life. So it's not in the season and what you're accomplishing. It's about your connection to God. It's about what's happening now. Rejoice and do good. Look, some people can't rejoice in what God is doing in this season of weeping. They can't. Because they're not looking at what God's doing. They're looking at what's happening to them or what they're doing. They're not looking to the beauty of what God's producing. And it said also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of his labor. It's the gift of God. Whatever we're going through now is a gift of God to be able to live to experience these things. Because I will tell you personally, I don't deserve to be alive. I don't deserve to live to experience sorrow. But God in His mercy has done that. Verse 15, Verse 14, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. What is God doing in your life right now? It said, to everything there is a season and a time, to every purpose under heaven. So God has something He wants to accomplish in your life, in this season, that will be forever. And nobody can say that he could have done it better, put to it, nothing will be taken from it. Nobody's going to say God should have done that. Well, he didn't do that part right. And God doeth it that men should fear before Him. Fear before the Lord. Worship before Him. Go before Him and say, God, whatever You're doing, I know it's going to be beautiful. I'm just going to embrace this and go through it, and I'm going to find the duties that you have me to do in this season. And when it's all done, I can't see it, but I just know that it's going to be a masterpiece, whatever you're doing. And it's not about me, it's about Him and what He is doing. Okay? Because everything else, verse 15, that which hath been is now. Yeah, that already happened. A hundred times. A thousand times. A million times. And that which is to be hath already been. But guess what? God requires that which is past. We're going to stand before God and we're going to give account. And you're going to be giving account for it. Did you do the right thing in the right season? Did you embrace Him? Did you look for what He's doing? Stop! looking at what you're doing. And look for what God is doing. And I hope that will be a blessing to you. Nothing in your life is lost in cycles of time. God gathers it in every season, and He uses it, and it follows this progression that we can't even see. Just embrace it. Alright? Lord, thank You for Your Word. I pray that you would bless it, be a blessing to people. I pray you would help them to discern from your holy word and meditate on what season am I in and what are my set of instructions? What are my set of promises? And I pray you'd help them. In Jesus' name, amen.