“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
I love this time of year! Everything in God’s creation is so beautiful! What’s difficult about that statement is to know what time of year I’m talking about because I can say that about every season. There are, of course, things I don’t like about each season: ice on the roads in winter, rain in spring, heat in summer, the dead and dying plants in autumn. But I prefer to think about the beauty of each season. And there is always beauty to be found. I know that, because God’s word says so. That’s not just true about the seasons in creation. It’s also true about the seasons of our lives. Each season, even the most difficult ones, have beauty if we just have the eyes to see it. That can be pretty difficult sometimes. And maybe we won’t see the beauty until we can view that season in the rearview mirror. But God always makes beauty, even out of ugliness.
Have you ever realized that our entire life is simply a season? Maybe it’s just me, but when I think of the seasons of my life, I think of certain eras of my life on this earth. But this verse helps me see that our entire life is also a season. Recently, someone was encouraging me by saying that a difficulty I’m experiencing is just a season, and that’s right. But what if we start thinking of our whole life as just a season? This verse tells us that God created us to long for much more than this world has to offer. What we truly long for is something we can’t even fathom. Our hearts were created to desire something beyond mortality, making our entire life one, long season of wandering through an arid desert. I don’t mean to sound discouraging about life. Remember, God always gives us beauty, even in our difficulties. But does it sometimes feel like this life is just one difficulty or hurdle after another? If so, rejoice! That means that you’re not settling for what the world has to offer. Instead, you’re longing after the glorious eternity God has for you and for me.
So what is included in this verse? Well, everything. It starts out by saying “everything” is made beautiful. That doesn’t leave much out, does it? Every thing, every experience, every time. God makes beauty out of all of it. And when does He work? Always. From the beginning, the very start of – no that’s not right. From before the start of everything. And He will continue to work until the very end, the conclusion of all things. And what is it He’s done? I can’t tell you. There aren’t words to describe it, mainly because we can’t understand it. But prepare to be amazed because someday, when this season called life is over, we will join Him in eternity and will see and know the unfathomable beauty He’s preparing for each of us.