What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:9–11)

What we need now are some conclusions that take away the futility. I am pleased to announce that Solomon does that. He even brings the name of God into it—what a shocker for a man on a horizontal journey!

First, God has made everything appropriate (beautiful) in its time. That’s such an important, never-to-be-forgotten statement! It’s the first time in this skeleton of thought that the writer has given you something to build on “above the heavens.”

How much we fail to see when we miss God’s timing! If I look at life strictly as it is laid out before me, if I fail to see it through the lens of faith, I shake my fist in God’s face. But when I see it through His eyes, in His time, the beautiful picture comes together; and as it does, I give Him praise.

I see purpose in tragedy. I see reason in calamity. I see His sovereign hand at work as He is reminding me He is still in charge. Then I willingly relinquish the controls to Him. So easy to say. So hard to do.

Now for the second conclusion: God has put eternity in our hearts. What does that mean? Well, let me help you with the key word—eternity. Let’s expand it to mean “curiosity about our future.”

God has put within every human’s heart a curiosity about tomorrow, an eternal capacity that prompts us to probe, to be intrigued, to search. That explains why your child—just about the time he or she can talk—begins to ask questions about tomorrow, about life, and about life beyond. Children can ask the most profound questions. It’s the way God made them. And since we will not find out about tomorrow without God, our pursuit must be of Him.

You and I are not ready to handle life until we are ready to face death. When we get eternity securely in place, it’s remarkable what it will do to time.

Time has begun for you and me, but it hasn’t yet ended, by His grace. Are you ready for that moment when God will “blot out time and start the wheel of eternity”? What will be your secure confidence when God steps on the scene and announces, “Time shall be no more”? Read this next sentence carefully: “But as many as received Him (Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12 NASB 1995).

The gift of eternal life is there to be received. So take God’s gift while you still have time. Along with Solomon’s list of contrasts, there is still one more worth considering. There’s a time to reject and a time to accept. I urge you to make this your time to accept.

Taken from Living on the Ragged Edge by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1985, 2004 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com