Not in Control: Surrendering to God's Sovereign Tapestry

The exposition works through Ecclesiastes to confront a modern appetite for control and to offer a gospel-shaped way of living within God’s sovereignty. Drawing on images from Tolstoy and Toy Story, the speaker exposes the common illusion that power, planning, or productivity ultimately secure human flourishing. Kohelet’s refrain — “for everything there is a season” — becomes the hinge: life is ordered by a sovereign God whose timing governs birth, death, joy, loss, and even the violence and sorrow that puzzle human hearts. Far from endorsing fatalism, the argument insists that recognizing limits is the doorway to wisdom. When people stop demanding full disclosure from God about why things happen, they can adopt a posture that matches reality: surrender to God’s timing, grateful enjoyment of present gifts, and reverent fear that acknowledges God’s authority.

The talk frames these postures as practical dispositions, not merely abstractions. Surrender means relinquishing the compulsive need to micromanage outcomes; gratitude reframes daily bread, relationships, and time as divine gifts to be enjoyed; and reverence locates the self rightly before a majestic God. The image of the shepherd who seeks the scattered sheep ties together the hard and hopeful threads: nothing is outside God’s redemptive reach, even the ugly and chaotic episodes of life. That conviction finds its apex in the cross and resurrection: if God can redeem Christ’s injustice and death into resurrection hope, then the same sovereign power can weave disparate losses into beauty.

The address closes in worship and communion, inviting participants to embody the alignment Kohelet commends — to stop frantic control-work, receive the present as gift, and trust a God who both governs history and tenderly pursues the wounded. The result is a gospel-shaped serenity that does not deny sorrow but reframes it within a shepherding God who will not let the stray threads of life be wasted.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. People live under an illusion of control Accepting lack of ultimate control is disorienting, but it exposes a hidden idol: the belief that careful planning or power can neutralize contingency. When that idol falls, life becomes a place of dependence rather than performance, and moral attention shifts from managing outcomes to faithful presence in God-ordained seasons. This reorientation reduces frantic striving and opens the heart to receive what is actually given. [36:54]
• 2. Surrender is the first practical posture Surrender is not passivity but the disciplined refusal to demand total explanations from God; it is the spiritual muscle that enables endurance and wise action within limits. When surrender is practiced, people stop framing unanswered whys as grounds for abandoning trust and instead live responsively to the opportunities in front of them. That posture produces steadier courage and clearer stewarding of time and gifts. [54:23]
• 3. Gratitude recognizes the present as gift Gratitude is a theological perception: it names daily bread, relationships, and work as given rather than earned, and so undoes resentment that fuels control impulses. Rooted in the conviction that all good gifts come from the Father, grateful living reclaims joy amid incompletion and reframes scarcity as an invitation to trust. This habit forms resilience against the tyranny of “more.” [58:04]
• 4. God redeems the scattered details The shepherd image insists that nothing lost is outside God’s remit; broken threads, mistakes, and suffering are not abandoned but may be woven into a larger good. The cross-resurrection event is the decisive proof that God can turn the worst evils into instruments of redemption, giving warrant to hope for personal stories as well. That trust fuels patient repentance, repair, and creative hope. [66:06]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [35:43] - Series introduction & question
• [36:04] - Tolstoy, Napoleon, and control
• [36:35] - Toy Story: the fall of certainty
• [38:47] - Kohelet’s central claim: seasons
• [44:34] - “For everything there is a season”
• [53:25] - Alignment: surrender and posture
• [58:04] - Gratitude and the gift of time
• [65:28] - God as shepherd: redeeming loss
• [69:00] - The cross, resurrection, and hope
• [73:24] - Communion: receiving the gift
• [93:10] - Benediction and sending

Here is a Bible study guide based on the sermon summary and transcript:

Bible Reading

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 (ESV)
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
9 What profit has the worker from what he toils? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that man cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I discerned that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that every man should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil, for that is God's gift to man. 14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been, for God seeks what has been driven away.

Observation questions

1. The sermon highlights the idea that "life under the sun... everything is ultimately vain." [38:55] What does the phrase "life under the sun" mean in the context of Ecclesiastes, and what does it imply about human existence without a divine perspective?
2. The passage in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 lists many contrasting "times" and "seasons." Can you identify a few of these pairs that particularly struck you, and what do they suggest about the nature of life?
3. The sermon mentions that "God works all things. All things good, bad, and ugly. All things together for the good of those who love him." [48:11] How does Ecclesiastes 3:11, stating that "He has made everything beautiful in its time," connect with this idea?
4. The sermon describes surrender as "the disciplined refusal to demand total explanations from God." [54:23] How does Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says "man cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end," support this idea of surrendering the need for complete understanding?

Interpretation questions

1. The sermon suggests that the human desire for control is often an illusion, comparing it to Napoleon's failed ambitions and Buzz Lightyear's realization that he cannot fly. [36:35] How does the reality of "seasons" and "times" presented in Ecclesiastes 3 challenge our personal illusions of control in our own lives?
2. The sermon posits that the question "Why, God?" often stems from a desire to regain control and demand answers from God. [54:52] How does Ecclesiastes 3:11, which states that we "cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end," help us interpret the impulse to ask "why" when difficult things happen?
3. The sermon emphasizes that gratitude reframes daily life as a gift, undoing resentment and fueling control impulses. [01:00:16] How does the understanding of "all his toil" being "God's gift to man" in Ecclesiastes 3:13 encourage a posture of gratitude rather than striving?
4. The sermon uses the image of a shepherd seeking the scattered sheep to illustrate God's redemptive work, even in brokenness. [01:05:28] How does the phrase "God seeks what has been driven away" in Ecclesiastes 3:15 connect with the idea that God redeems even the difficult or chaotic parts of our lives?

Application questions

1. The sermon challenges the illusion of control we often hold onto, whether it's in our daily schedules, relationships, or future plans. [42:41] In what specific area of your life do you feel the strongest urge to control outcomes, and how might embracing the reality of "seasons" help you loosen that grip?
2. The sermon encourages surrender as a posture of relinquishing the need for complete answers from God. [54:23] When you face unanswered questions or difficult circumstances, what is your typical response, and how could you practice surrendering those "whys" to God's timing and wisdom?
3. Gratitude is presented as a theological perception that recognizes all of life, including our daily bread, relationships, and time, as divine gifts. [58:04] What is one specific thing you often take for granted that you can begin to view as a gift from God, and how can you actively express gratitude for it this week?
4. The sermon highlights that "God works all things... for the good of those who love him," [48:11] and that even "broken threads, mistakes, and suffering are not abandoned but may be woven into a larger good." [01:06:27] Can you identify a past difficulty or regret in your life that you are now beginning to see as something God might be weaving into a larger, redemptive story? How can you lean into that hope?
5. Reverence is described as knowing our place before God's majesty. [01:04:39] In what ways can you intentionally cultivate a posture of reverence in your daily life, acknowledging God's sovereignty and your dependence on Him?
6. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that God's redemptive power, demonstrated in the cross and resurrection, means He can redeem our stories, no matter how broken they feel. [01:09:00] What is one area of your life where you feel particularly broken or irredeemable, and how can you trust that God's sovereign hand is at work there?