What to Do When You Don't Know Why: Five Pieces of Biblical Wisdom for Life's Hard Seasons

Meta Description: When life's seasons bring pain and confusion, what should we do? Pastor David Rice walks us through Ecclesiastes 3 with five practical, biblical answers. URL Slug: what-to-do-hard-seasons-ecclesiastes-3 Featured Image: A winding path through a forest moving from shadow into light, symbolizing the journey through difficult seasons toward hope — warm, natural tones with a sense of quiet resolve.

There's a question most of us carry quietly — one that rarely gets spoken out loud but surfaces in the stillness of a sleepless night or the honesty of a private prayer. Why, Lord? Why this season? Why now?

This past Sunday, Pastor David Rice brought a message from Ecclesiastes 3 that many of us needed to hear. Filling in while Dr. Willie Rice preaches overseas, Pastor David stepped into the pulpit with the warmth of a fellow traveler — not someone who has figured it all out, but someone who has walked through the hard seasons himself and found that God's Word has real, practical things to say.

His message was titled simply by the text itself: Ecclesiastes 3 — A Time for Everything. And what he gave us was not an answer to the question "why," but something arguably more useful: biblical counsel for what to do when you find yourself in a season you didn't choose.

A Poem Written by a Man Who Had Everything

Before diving into application, Pastor David grounded us in the author. Solomon — the richest, wisest, most powerful man of his age — wrote Ecclesiastes near the end of his life. A man who could have anything he wanted. A man who spared himself nothing. And yet, reflecting on the sweep of human experience, he wrote:

"There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot... a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." — Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

The point is unavoidable: seasons come for all of us. The question Solomon raises — and the one Pastor David helped us wrestle with — is what we do when we find ourselves in the hard ones.

Five Things to Do When the Season is Hard

1. Accept the season you are in.

This sounds deceptively simple, but Pastor David was honest about how difficult it actually is. When we're in pain, our first instinct is to reject the idea that this could possibly be God's will. His counsel? Stop in that moment and say, "Okay, Lord — I accept that I'm in this place. I know you're with me. I know your promises are true." That act of acceptance, he reminded us, sends a message — to yourself and to the enemy — that you are not running away from Jesus just because you're in pain.

2. Run toward Christ.

And he meant this literally. In moments of confusion, doubt, and fear — especially in those moments — run directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. That means prayer, not as a formality, but as a real conversation with the Creator of the universe who loves you more than life. It means the Word of God, which Pastor David reminded us is non-negotiable: "If you wish to follow Jesus and experience the true dynamic life that Christ offers, you're not going to do it without this book." It also means the church. As he put it plainly, "The less you feel like gathering with your church, the more important it is for you to gather with your church." The devil wants to isolate us. Clinging to Christ means clinging to His people.

3. Learn what God is teaching you.

This one, Pastor David acknowledged, can sound insensitive when you're in real pain. You want relief, not a lesson. But he offered this gently: God is sanctifying us through the hard seasons, perfecting the image of Christ in us. We don't have to enjoy it. But we can ask, "Lord, what can you teach me here?" And often, he noted, God brings us through a season of trial precisely so that we can later turn around and help someone else who is walking the same road.

4. Give of yourself to others.

Pain makes all of us selfish — and Pastor David was quick to say that's not a moral failing, just a human reality. He used a memorable illustration: imagine hitting your thumb with a nine-pound hammer. For a while, nothing else in the world matters. That's what pain does. But his counsel was clear: don't let the devil convince you it's okay to turn completely inward. Invest in the people around you. Pray for them. Encourage them. It will feel counterintuitive. But Jesus himself said the only way to find real life is to give it away.

5. Look up.

This was the note on which Pastor David closed, and it was the most moving moment of the morning. Solomon ends Ecclesiastes 3 with a haunting question: "For who can enable a man to see what will happen after he dies?" If all we can see is this broken world, what hope is there?

And then Pastor David told us about Jeff — a 93-year-old saint the church recently lost. He visited Jeff near the end, stood beside his hospital bed, and began reading aloud from 2 Timothy 4. Jeff's eyes were still closed — but his lips began to move. From memory, he joined in:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day — and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing." — 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Jeff Weebi has now received that crown. And the answer to Solomon's question — who can show us what lies beyond death? — has a name. His name is Jesus. When Christ walked out of the grave on the third day, he gave us a certain promise: no season of this life will ever have the final word.

As Pastor David reminded us, quoting Jesus himself: "In this world you will have trouble, but do not be afraid, for I have overcome the world."

We May Not Know the Why — But We Know the Who

When we don't have answers to life's hardest questions, we can still know the One who holds them. Accept the season. Run to Christ. Learn. Give. And look up.

If you're walking through a hard season right now and could use someone to pray with you, reach out to a trusted friend, pastor, or small group. Community was never meant to be optional — it's part of how God sustains us through the seasons we didn't choose.

And if you missed Sunday's message, we encourage you to watch the full sermon on our website or YouTube channel. It's the kind of teaching worth returning to more than once.

Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): When life doesn't make sense and we're asking "Why, Lord?" — Pastor David Rice reminded us this Sunday that we may not always get the answer, but we always have access to the One who holds it. Five pieces of biblical wisdom from Ecclesiastes 3 that are worth carrying into your week. 🙏 [Link in bio / Read the full post at the link below]

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