April 18 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The words of Ecclesiastes 3:11 touch on several intriguing concepts. What does the Preacher mean when he says God has made everything beautiful in its time? We know creation was made beautiful. But what’s so beautiful about conflict, hatred, sickness and death?

Ecclesiastes 3 begins with the familiar words, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Following that opening line the preacher names no less than fourteen contrasts in life, all of them familiar scenes. There is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot. There are times of weeping and times for laughing. But how can these things be beautiful in their time? We know the Lord created everything beautiful at the beginning of time! The preacher, however, doesn’t say God created the world beautiful at one time but “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

The key to unravelling this phrase is the word “beautiful.” The Hebrew language uses the same word in Genesis 1 where it is translated “good.” After each day of creation you find the refrain, “and God saw that it was good.” In other words, the LORD saw that it was suited to its purpose. God made everything excellent in its time. When the time was right it happened; it came into being. According to His divine purpose the dry ground and plants were made on the third day and not on the sixth. Likewise, Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day and not on the first. Today too, everything is maintained and sustained according to God’s pattern. The birth of a child, a death in the family, laughing, grieving, healing, love, hatred, war and peace are all subject to God's almighty government.

The Preacher does not say “all things are beautiful and good.” There is nothing beautiful about war, famine, death or hard times. Nevertheless, whatever evil comes on our path is overruled by good and serves God's purpose. What the Preacher says has a deeper dimension in Christ. God has made everything beautiful in its time through Christ. As Paul writes in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” The Lord makes everything good in its time, including our loss, failures, fragmented dreams, heartache, illness or loneliness. And remember, when the Lord says “everything,” that’s exactly what He means!