In His Time

Pastor Jerry Costello focuses on Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 and its famous “a time for everything” poem. He notes the book’s unsettling, repetitive tensions and explains the poem’s 14 paired contrasts as a comprehensive picture of human experience under God’s sovereignty over time and seasons. Addressing Solomon’s question about the gain from toil, he offers three responses: God gives busyness and beauty in time yet withholds full understanding; God’s gift is joy, doing good, and enjoying food, drink, and labor; and God’s work endures, repeating life’s cycles. He then contrasts Solomon with Jesus, ending with Matthew 6’s call to consider birds and lilies, confronting anxiety and urging seeking God’s kingdom.