ECCLESIASTES 3:1-22
God’s Sovereignty Over Time

 

BIG IDEA

God is sovereign and good. This truth brings comfort and challenge to our daily lives.

BEAUTIFUL COMPLEXITY

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

CONNECTEDNESS

  • We are relational beings – connected to others.

CONTROL 

  • We are bound by time and do not have the ability to control the most critical events in our lives.

CONFLICT

  • Even people who don’t believe in God can see the rhythms and patterns in life
  • 3:9 responds to the poem of 3:1-8 with the harsh reality that in the end, we all die.
COMFORT & CHALLENGE

(Ecclesiastes 3:9-22)

“The reality of our death and final judgment is a good thing. It gives our actions meaning and weight, and it gives my experienced losses and injustices a voice in God’s presence. What is past may be past, but what is past is not forgotten to God, and because he is in charge and lives forever, one day all will be well. Every single thing that happens will have its day in court.” David Gibson

 

COMFORT | God Is Lovingly Sovereign

  • God is outside the bounds of time and can see everything from beginning to end.

COMFORT | God Shepherds the Broken

  • 3:15 “God seeks what has been driven away.”
  • 3:17 “God will judge the righteous and the wicked.”

CHALLENGE | God is in Control

  • We can live within the rhythmic pattern of life and accept not having all the answers because we know that God is good and he is in control.

CHALLENGE | Contentment is All Seasons of Life

  • Contentment = “Being present in the moment with a joyful awareness of God’s satisfying presence”

 

CONCLUSION
  • Do you believe God is a sovereign and good Father?
  • Since God is Sovereign, are you allowing him to have control or are you striving for control in your life?
  • Since God is God, are you trusting God and content with your current circumstances or are you distract and anxious for the ‘next’ thing?

 

COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS
  1. What things do you seek to control? What might it look like to surrender control?
  2. How could you have a wiser perspective on time?
  3. What would it look like for us to grow in our understanding that we relate to God as a child relates to their parents? (Parents know all the details and see the bigger picture. They are making good and loving decisions for the child even if the child doesn’t understand)
  4. How can we help another to embrace contentment in our current situation while also preparing our hearts for change, even when the change may be difficult?
  5. What difference could the promise of God’s judgment have on the worries of the moment?