The mornings following Daylight Saving Time (DST) can feel like pure drudgery. It is remarkable how even a small shift in time can have lasting effects on our lives. We often find ourselves wanting to cling to those few precious minutes we believe we lost. I know I’m not alone in feeling this way—every year, many people call for the reversal or elimination of the time change. A 2021 poll revealed that 75 percent of Americans disliked changing the clocks but were uncertain about the implications of permanently abolishing DST. Even if states decide to forgo the switch, any new laws regarding time changes cannot take effect until Congress passes a federal law.
Even minor changes can be distressing. An hour of time change seems trivial in the grand scheme of life. After all, this hour is adjusted back in nine months; it really should not impact our lives significantly—except for that perceived hour of lost sleep on the first Sunday in March. Yet, it still causes discomfort.
In times of change and reflection, we often turn to Ecclesiastes 3. This passage is well-known, and there’s even a song titled “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds that draws inspiration from it.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 states: “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 […]”
However, the climax of this passage comes later. The author of Ecclesiastes speaks to the eternality of God, reminding us that although our lives may operate on cycles and experience abrupt changes—such as mourning, dancing, weeping, and laughing—there is One who exists beyond these changes.
Ecclesiastes 3:14-15 states: “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”
Time changes every year; it is a cyclical event. While it may feel drastic in the moment, it is imperceptible on the timeline of history. God transcends this linear progression of time; He sees all of time in its entirety, fully experiencing each moment that exists. Astonishingly, He can “call the past into account.”
We might feel as though we lose an hour here or there throughout our lives; however, God has complete command over the past events of our existence. For some, God’s ability to oversee everything can seem intimidating, but it highlights His sovereignty over time. While we are bound to time, God can navigate through it freely, like a tracking bar on a video.
The passage reaches its peak with the statement: “I said to myself, ‘God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed'” (Ecclesiastes 3:17).
This may evoke a sense of gravity regarding God’s eternal judgment. To have the ability to look over the entirety of human history and, in an instant, understand the actions and deeds of every person is profound. Regardless of the changes we experience, we can rest assured that God is in control.
Humanity has always been at the mercy of God, and it often takes a lifetime to fully grasp this reality. As followers of Christ, we also have the immense benefit of knowing that our righteousness is not what is on trial, as Paul connects these concepts: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad… 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:10, 21).
Changes will come and go; some will seem life-altering, while others will shift like the days on a calendar. We can try to hold onto those fleeting moments, or we can choose to trust in the One who sees our days, judges our actions, and declares us righteous because of His Son. When we come to this realization, we can rejoice in a God who Does Not Change.