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.
– Ecclesiastes 3:11
Oh, let this verse soak in and change your perspective on life and the world around you. God has made everything beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 encourages us to trust God in the long term.
This verse is a potent reminder to us that we don’t see all the beautiful tapestry God is weaving over all of time. We see such a small part. And we can get so focused on the small part we see on the day-to-day things we see and the struggles and the challenges and the sorrows and the trials and the moment and we don’t see, we can’t see how they relate to the big picture. Even the big picture of a year or 2 or 3 or 10 years, much less the big picture of a century, much less the big picture of all time.
Yet God sees it all and this verse is a call for us to trust God in the long term, in the overall picture of time that he sees, realizing, as the rest of verse 11 goes on to say that God has put eternity into our hearts. That there is time eternity past and time for eternity future to come. And what God has done from the beginning to the end, he sees it all in a way that none of us can see at all.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 encourages us to trust Him who has time in his hands.
And so let Ecclesiastes 3:11 today draw you to deeper trust in God, to not view your life or the world in the short term and what you can see and what you have seen and knowing you’re not able to see what’s to come in the future, to know that God who is all wise, all good, all loving, all sovereign, all-powerful, just and merciful who loves you, he’s your Father for all who trusted in Jesus, look to him as the one who holds time in his hands and trust in him that he makes things beautiful in time. That he sees all throughout all time, he knows all throughout all time, and as his word makes clear, he promises he’s working all things together in all time for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.
So we pray based on Ecclesiastes 3:11, oh God, we trust in you, we confess, we acknowledge before you that we can’t see what you see. And that we struggle, oh God, because of our lack of sight, because we can’t see what’s coming. And because we can’t see all that you’re doing, God, we confess, we struggle to trust in you many times. Forgive us, oh God, we pray. Our minds are so small. Our view is so small. We trust that your view is throughout all time and that you are all wise in ways that we are not, that you are all loving. You are perfect in a holy way that we are not.
This verse calls us to trust God with our lives for eternity.
You are just and merciful in ways far beyond what we can even comprehend. And so we say today, we trust in you. We trust in you for eternity. Lord, we trust in you with our lives for eternity. We praise you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for our sins so that we can be forgiven, not held to account for our sins, for all of eternity. We praise you for the hope of eternal life in heaven and for the hope, the confidence that we have today, that you’re working all things together in our lives, ultimately in time for our good and for your glory.
Prayer for the Yadu Qiang People
And for the spread of your gospel and your goodness to all the peoples of the world. We know that’s where all of eternity is headed, toward every tribe and nation and tongue bowing at your throne. So God, we pray today for the Yadu Qiang people of China… For this people group of 39,000 Tibetan Buddhists in Sichuan province. God, please cause the good news of your grace to spread to them for all of eternity. That the Yadu Qiang people would be represented around your throne, along with every other people group in the world. May it be so. God, we pray for that. Give success for the spread of the gospel to all the nations of the earth… So that ultimately in time all tribes, peoples, and languages are gathered around your throne… Enjoying your grace and your glory for all of eternity.
Oh God, we pray that you’d help us to view our lives today, this week… The world around us in light of your Word and Ecclesiastes 3:11, that you are Lord over time. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
