Bible Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 | C-Sharp, Don’t B-Flat

Job:  When you lose everything

Ch1      Job’s property, plus his children, are taken from him.  V21, “Naked I came from my…”

Ch2      Satan torments Job for his faithfulness with “loathsome sores.”

V10, “Shall we receive good from the Lord and not evil?”  3 friends arrive to counsel

Ch13    v15, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”

Ch19    v25, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”

Ch38    God responds to Job’s demand for an audience.  “Where were you when I laid the…?”

Ch40    Job’s response: “I am unworthy.  How can I respond to you?  God’s charge in v8

Ch42    Job’s response: “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand.”

The Lord rebukes Job’s three friends.  Job prospers once again.

Ecclesiastes:  When you possess everything

Ch1      All is vanity

Ch3      There is a season for everything under heaven.  V11, God has put eternity in our hearts.

Ch5      v2, God is in heaven; you’re not.  “Therefore let your words be few.”

V18, “eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil”  [see also 8:15]

Ch11    “Cast your bread on the waters and it will return to you…”

Ch12    All is vanity.  The end of the matter, vs. 13, 14

Lamentations:  When you forget what you’re looking for

Ch1      v9, “O LORD, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.”

Ch2      v2, “The Lord has swallowed up without mercy…”  v5, “The Lord has become like an enemy

Ch3      v22, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end…”

V24, “The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.”

Ch5      v21, “Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!  Renew our days…”

Conclusion:      What do you have when you lose everything?  See sharp.

What do you still need when you possess everything?  Don’t be flat.

What heals our past, liberates our present, and secures our future?