By Nathanael Danso-Ntiamoah

Patience in God’s timing is one of the most unpopular ideas in modern Christian life and one of the least examined. Our fast-paced world with microwave delivery systems and supersonic transit speeds have increasingly positioned patience beyond the reach of the modern Christian—or so it may appear to be.

Introduction

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” — Ecclesiastes 3:11^[1]

In Psalm 90:10, the writer makes a universal observation about the mortality and sorrow of man. He noted that “the days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Job also lamented about this principle in Job 14:1, saying “man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Thus, the holy scriptures teach that everyone in this world has their fair share of troubles and difficulties. This traces back to pronouncements God made after the fall of man in Genesis 3:16-19. For this reason, the writer beseeches his Creator in Psalm 90:12 to teach us to number our days (or remember our mortality), because by always having in mind that we are only pilgrims on this earth who must render an account someday, we shall gain a heart of wisdom and walk wisely. While walking prudently on this earth, disciples are admonished to continuously exercise the virtue of patience. Many have found themselves in unpleasant situations as a result of desperation and impatience, and Christians must be vigilant and learn from such cases. Let us now consider this vital virtue of patience in detail.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 and the Call to Patience

The book of Ecclesiastes provides vital precepts for living a meaningful life. In the third chapter, the author focuses on the principles of time. There have been moments in believers’ lives when they find themselves in trials, and even after an extended period of fervent prayer, things seem to remain the same. In such situations, most of us usually self-reflect to determine whether the “delayed” answer might be because of a sin we committed. Another tendency of man in such moments, because of our limited understanding of God, is to take matters into our own hands based on the feeling that things may be taking unfavorably too long. The discussion of the writer of Ecclesiastes about time leads to the conclusion drawn in the eleventh verse, from which we can glean a lesson of waiting patiently for God’s timing.

What Ecclesiastes 3:11 Teaches About God’s Timing

• “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

Genesis 1 teaches us that The Lord created time (verses 5, 14–19) and the world in a timely manner. Consider the stages of human growth commencing from the embryonic phase, the life cycles of various living organisms, the transition from one climate season to another, and the alternating periods of day and night that arise as a result of the Earth’s rotation around the sun. Before taking their first step, the average human infant learns to sit, crawl, and stand in a timely fashion. Such an ordered process arises from the work of an orderly Designer—and it will be very hard to convince anyone that subjecting a heap of sand to a chaotic windstorm for a long period will eventually result in a perfectly constructed sandcastle.  Throughout the Bible, we see several instances where God defied man’s timing to accomplish His perfect plan (Abraham and Sarah’s conception and birth of Isaac in their advanced years, David’s victory over Goliath despite having no military experience, etc). Christians are reminded to trust in God’s plan and timing, even in times of trial, when exercising patience seems counterintuitive. God works with time.

Why We Cannot See What God Is Doing

• “Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

The latter part of the passage explains why Christians should trust God’s timing. First, the writer advises that God has put eternity in every human heart. This is why every individual craves some form of inner satisfaction in their lives (Ecclesiastes 6:7). Although the word rendered “eternity” in Ecclesiastes 3:11b is contested by scholars,^{[2],[3],[4],[5]} there is little dispute about the existence of some ultimate meaning in life. Christ is the source of meaning for Christians, which is why they endeavor to study their Bibles and attend church services as often as possible to hear His message. It should be remembered that the church is a clinic for flawed individuals and not a showroom for perfect people (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Proverbs 24:16, 1 John 1:8). Therefore, allowing ourselves to undergo godly transformation is a continuous process of growth (2 Pet. 3:18; Phil. 2:12; Heb. 12:1–2).

Another important lesson drawn from Ecclesiastes 3:11 is man’s weakness in not knowing the work of the eternal God from the beginning to the end. Over 70 years after the Miller-Urey experiment attempted to understand the origins of life, scientists have struggled to develop a living cell, which is the basic unit of life.[6] In reference to this scientific puzzle, James Tour — a renowned chemist, nanotechnologist, and intelligent design proponent — declared that the more we learn about the cell, the harder the target (of creating a living cell) gets.[7] Lightning is a natural phenomenon based on whose understanding the existence of electricity was discovered, and various scientific theories were later established to relate electricity with magnetism, paving the way for radio communications and the numerous advances in telecommunications today.[8] However, there are still ongoing debates about the origins of lightning and thunderstorms in the scientific community, especially because it is very dangerous to observe lightning from a close range.

Moses said to the entire assembly of Israel in Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” This statement can be viewed somewhat in parallel with the text in Ecclesiastes 11:5, “As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.” Despite numerous attempts by mankind to discover further, there are certain things in life for which we will be unable to find complete answers. Man’s understanding of the universe cannot be compared to God’s, much less his understanding of the spiritual world.

The Danger of Impatience and Comparison

Job had no idea about the conversation God had with the devil before calamities befell him. No one knows precisely the full extent of what God is doing behind the scenes, but there is an assurance in Paul’s message that all things work for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Sometimes, God uses those moments of discomfort and trial to instill the virtue we would need to succeed later in life (James 1:2–5). Impatience can be dangerous and has the potential to cause significant problems.

In I Samuel 8, the aging prophet Samuel delegates the judgment (leadership) of Israel to his sons. Because the two sons corrupted the ways of godly judgment, the elders of Israel demanded a king from the prophet, not because they were in dire need of one, but because they had seen all other nations being ruled by kings. For almost 500 years, the house of Israel had been led militarily and spiritually by Moses, Joshua, and some judges (Acts 13:18–21). [9] In response to their demand, the Lord warned the children of Israel about the consequences of having a king: forced labor/service in the king’s military, farm fields, perfumery, and kitchen, as well as the mandatory payment of taxes. The Israelites, despite this divine forewarning and forgetting that they were a special people who had been under a different system of national leadership since the days of Moses, were adamant that they needed a king like the nations around them.

Like the Israelites, we are also very liable to compare our situations with others and possibly wonder why we may have a worse experience. Such comparisons may lead us to engage in certain injurious acts in the quest to find quick answers to some of our problems. One would benefit from always remembering that every individual has a unique destiny and assignment on earth, and the means through which one person may succeed could be fatal for another individual. Eventually, in the historical accounts of the books of Kings and Chronicles, the evil acts of the kings would precipitate the division and fall of the kingdom of Israel into several years of captivity.

How to Wait Patiently on God’s Timing

It is easier said than done, especially regarding exercising patience in times of trial. However, the Bible encourages disciples to cast their burdens on Christ. He knows our strengths, struggles, and weaknesses. The patient anticipation of the return of the Lord is likened to a farmer planting his crops and waiting patiently for the rainy season in James 5:7. Here, we see another relationship between the patience of the Christian and God’s timing. However, the apostle Paul cautions Christians that their hope in Christ cannot be based solely on this present life and the accompanying material acquisitions on earth. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” — I Corinthians 15:19. Agur pleaded with God in Proverbs 30:8-9 to not give him more or less food than he needed, because having in abundance could make him deny his Creator and being poor could also make him a thief. Applying this to the virtue of patience, we can also learn that in some cases, if the omniscient God grants us what we seek in that exact moment, that answered request could turn out to be a hindrance to our faith. Patience and contentment are necessary traits in the Christian’s journey of perseverance (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

When it was time for Joseph to be born, God opened Rachel’s womb (Gen. 30:22–25).  He was sold by his brothers into servitude (where his discipline, faith, and integrity would be tested), falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, thrown into prison, and eventually exalted to the position of a high-ranking official over Egypt at age 30 — all within the timing of God. Above all, when the time was right, God sent Christ to offer Himself through the eternal Spirit for the remission of our sins (Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 9:14). Historical accounts estimate approximately 400 years between the writing of the books of Malachi and Matthew. During this period, Koine Greek became a commonly spoken language in many territories due to Hellenistic influence. [10] The Roman Empire, which succeeded the Greek Empire, also made significant investments in transportation infrastructure. Hence, prior to the birth of Christ, a large territory of the earth spoke a common language, and regions were connected with bridges and roads. These two advancements catalyzed the spread of the gospel and Christianity, beginning in Acts 2. He is a timely God, whose ways are different from ours.  Because He created the universe, He is the only one who sees the bigger picture in every individual​’s story. This is why we ought to trust Him alone and be patient in our walk with Him.

Conclusion

The message of Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds believers that God’s work is timely, wise, and far beyond human understanding. Rather than giving in to comparison, haste, or discouragement, Christians are called to trust God’s larger purpose, wait patiently, and remain faithful in every season.

Endnotes

[1]Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Where the argument turns on a disputed rendering, alternative versions are cited explicitly.

[2]Aron Pinker, “The Cause of Unhappiness in Qohelet 3:11,” Scriptura 107 (2011): 213–22. Pinker surveys six proposed readings and himself argues for repointing the consonantal text to hā‘elem, “the unknowable.”

[3]Seow, Ecclesiastes, ad loc., defends a temporal sense on the basis of Qohelet’s own usage at 1:4, 2:16, and 9:6; Pinker, “Cause of Unhappiness,” 215–17, contests it.

[4]The Septuagint renders the term σὺν τὸν αἰῶνα, and the Vulgate et mundum tradidit disputationi eorum, “and he has delivered the world to their dispute”; the King James Version follows this line with “also he hath set the world in their heart.”

[5]The Holy Bible, New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), note at Eccl. 3:11: “Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that.”

[6]Stanley L. Miller, “A Production of Amino Acids under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions,” Science 117, no. 3046 (1953): 528–29, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.117.3046.528.

[7]James Tour, “Animadversions of a Synthetic Chemist,” Inference: International Review of Science 2, no. 2 (2016), https://inference-review.com/article/animadversions-of-a-synthetic-chemist. Tour writes that “those who think scientists understand the issues of prebiotic chemistry are wholly misinformed” and that the present state of the question “is a mystery.” Tour is an advocate of intelligent design, and the claim is cited here as a working chemist’s assessment of an open research problem, not as evidence for a theological conclusion.

[8]Joseph R. Dwyer and Martin A. Uman, “The Physics of Lightning,” Physics Reports 534, no. 4 (2014): 147–241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2013.09.004.

[9]Acts 13:18–21 gives approximately forty years in the wilderness, “about four hundred and fifty years” of judges, and forty years of Saul’s reign, placing the period of non-monarchic leadership at roughly half a millennium.

[10]Geoffrey Horrocks, Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers, 2nd ed. (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pt. 1, on the formation and diffusion of the Koine.