Articles
“The Passing Seasons”
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Genesis 8:22
The changing of the seasons reminds us of God’s power, faithfulness and wisdom. The cycles of nature—fixed and sustained by his hand—each carry a unique beauty. The cold darkness of winter inevitably gives way to the light and warmth of spring, and anticipating that change is itself an act of faith in our Creator. Yet while there is beauty in this constant movement, there is also a kind of tyranny. We experience seasons in life as well—youth, early adulthood, middle age and old age. Each season brings its own blessings, yet each is mingled with frustration. Teenagers long for the freedom of responsibility, while adults long for freedom from responsibility. The old lack the energy of youth, while the young lack the wisdom of old age. In Ecclesiastes 3, the Preacher poetically describes this ebb and flow of life—sometimes gentle, sometimes violent—as we are carried from one moment to its opposite and back again. He presents this rhythm of change as both beautiful and burdensome, a reality we must face with faith.
The tyranny of change (Ecc. 3:1-8) — Change is necessary and good. No one wants a perpetual spring (“a time to plant”) without a harvest (“a time to pluck up what is planted”). Even the negative and tragic seasons of life (“a time to die… kill… weep… mourn… lose… refrain… hate… war”) give beauty and perspective to their opposites if viewed with the right mindset. Yet when we seek permanence and purpose in life, this constant movement can feel oppressive. The Preacher’s famous list in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reflects life’s unrelenting rhythm: birth and death, planting and uprooting, war and peace. We often find ourselves swept along by events we cannot control, dancing to a tune not of our own making.
No season lasts forever. Whatever we pursue in one season—finding a marriage partner, growing a family, advancing a career, investing in our health, acquiring possessions—does not last into the next season unchanged. Whatever we pursue will eventually give way to its opposite. Sometimes, we may throw ourselves into a meaningful pursuit only to be forced by life’s circumstances to abandon it. The repetition of “a time for this and a time for that” can feel like a burden. Our plans are often at the mercy of forces beyond us.
We’ve all said, “Who would have imagined I’d end up here, doing this?” The peace-loving nation is forced into war (8); the shepherd slaughters the lamb he once nursed back to health (3); the collector sells the treasures he once sought (6); friendships end into bitter conflict (8); the need to keep silent gives way to the need to speak up (7). Life under the sun is full of these unexpected turns, where change not only shapes our days but seems to tyrannically rule over them.
The beauty of change (Ecc. 3:9-15) — Faced with constant change, our natural response may be frustration or despair (9-10). But the Preacher challenges us to see change not as chaos, but as something beautiful—a divine pattern woven by God’s hand (11). We long to understand God’s plan, to see how each moment fits into the whole. Yet our struggle is not with change itself, but with our limited vision. We see only fragments of life’s intricate design, unable to grasp how each season contributes to God’s grand masterpiece.
Rather than offering frozen perfection, God gives us something better: a dynamic, kaleidoscopic mystery. Each season has its own time to blossom and bear fruit, and each is “beautiful in its time” (11a). We catch glimpses of this beauty, even in hardship, but we can’t see the full picture “from beginning to end” (11b) as God does. God has placed “eternity” in our hearts—a longing to understand the lasting purpose behind life’s fleeting moments—but we are not meant to figure it all out (“he cannot find out what God has done”). Like standing too close to a giant painting, we can sense its quality and design, but only God sees the whole.
The faithful response is not despair, but trust. While life’s mysteries may trouble the unbeliever, the believer finds joy in God’s gifts (12-13). We embrace our time under the sun as a gift and do good with what we’ve been given, knowing all our blessings are from God’s hand. Even though our work is temporary, God’s work endures forever (14). We often strive for a legacy, but only by submitting to God’s will can we become part of his eternal masterpiece (Eph. 2:10; Rev. 14:13).
God’s control over life’s seasons is not oppressive, but comforting. Nothing is wasted or forgotten; all is known to him. History is not just an endless cycle (1:9); it is God’s story, unfolding according to his purpose. What is past, he will call to account (15), and what seems random or lost, he will bring to light. For the person of faith, this truth anchors us: life is not meaningless motion, but calculated movement toward God’s eternal purpose (Rom. 8:28-30).
The permanence of Christ — We often long for stability in a world that constantly shifts around us. But in the midst of life’s disruptions, we find peace in the unchanging nature of Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Though the seasons of life move beyond our control, they are never beyond his. Change is not random, and it is never wasted. When anchored to Christ (Heb. 6:19), even the most unsettling moments become part of a greater story—a story of grace, transformation and eternal purpose.
As we walk through the changing seasons of life, may we do so with faith—not just enduring the shifts, but trusting the One who orders them. For in the end, change itself is not our enemy, but often the very means by which God makes us more like Christ (Rom. 8:28-30).
