You can't control the seasons, but you can control your response. Discover how to navigate life's transitions, take calculated risks, and build a support system that won't break.
In Part 2 of Ecclesiastes, Jeremy Haroldson moves from the philosophy of meaning into the tactics of living. Solomon, having established that accumulation is "vapor," now answers the question: "Okay, so how do we actually live well in the meantime?"
This teaching is a masterclass in situational awareness. It covers how to read the "seasons" of your life so you stop fighting winter and start preparing for spring. It challenges the paralysis of perfectionism and offers a blueprint for resilience through connection. If you feel out of sync with your life, this message helps you find the rhythm.
Ecclesiastes 3 is famous: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Jeremy explains that anxiety often comes from trying to force a "harvest" in a "planting" season.
You cannot demand summer when it is winter. "There is a time to weep and a time to laugh." Wisdom is not about changing the weather; it is about dressing appropriately for it. When you accept the season you are in, you stop wasting energy on frustration and start using the season for its intended purpose (e.g., rest, grieving, building, or launching).
Solomon warns: "Woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" Jeremy highlights the danger of the "self-made man" myth.
Isolation creates fragility. If you are alone, one hit takes you out. But "a threefold cord is not quickly broken." Resilience is found in the weave of relationship. Whether in business, marriage, or friendship, your strength is multiplied by your connection. You are mathematically stronger when you are not the only strand holding the weight.
A weird but powerful image: "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."
Jeremy warns leaders: You can spend 20 years building a reputation (the ointment) and ruin it with 5 minutes of stupidity (the fly). "A little folly" isn't a small thing when it lands in a high-value environment. Protect your character. The higher you climb, the more damage a "dead fly" can do.
"Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days." This is an investment strategy. In the ancient world, shipping grain (bread) overseas was risky, but it brought high returns.
Jeremy connects this to the paralysis of analysis: "He who observes the wind will not sow; and he who regards the clouds will not reap." If you wait for perfect conditions to start your business, ask for the raise, or launch the ministry, you will never do it. You have to risk the "bread" to get the return.
Solomon's final advice isn't to retreat to a cave; it's to eat your dinner with joy. "Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart."
Jeremy concludes that the ultimate rebellion against the "vapor" of life is to enjoy the present moment. Don't defer your happiness to a future achievement. The work, the season, the people right in front of you—this is the gift. Open it.
Perfect for:
It is a metaphor for taking calculated risks with your resources. It means investing generously or launching ventures without a guarantee of immediate return, trusting that the value will come back to you "after many days." It encourages an abundance mindset over a hoarding mindset.
Solomon expresses the raw emotion of burnout. When he looked at all the "toil" he had done under the sun, he hated it because he realized he couldn't keep it. This validates our feelings of frustration but then pivots to the solution: find joy in the *doing*, not just the *having*.
Start by identifying your current season. Are you in winter (rest/death of old things), spring (new beginnings/planting), summer (hard work/growth), or fall (harvest/celebration)? Once you identify it, stop trying to act like you are in a different one. Align your expectations with the season.
Key Scripture Reference: Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11:4
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap."