Seasons Change
My favorite season is spring. Maybe I like it because it's the season I was born in. Or, maybe it’s the fact that it’s not too hot and not too cold. Then again, it could be because this is the season where everything that once appeared dead suddenly comes back to life. Your favorite season may be different from mine. Or, if spring is also your favorite season, it could be your favorite for very different reasons. No matter what your favorite season is, the one thing that’s guaranteed is that it will eventually change. Your least favorite season will come around no matter how long you try to deny it or delay it. It’s inevitable.
Just like the natural seasons are guaranteed to change, so it is with the seasons of life. As a single person, it may be the season to focus on your career. As a newly-wed, that season may change to focusing on your marriage. Once your family begins to grow, you may experience an extended season of focusing on raising your children. Once your children are grown and have moved out, you may find yourself in a season of figuring out what season you’re in.
We not only experience changes in the seasons of life related to our families, but in every area of life. In our finances we may experience seasons of lack and seasons of abundance. In our emotions we may experience seasons of being up and seasons of being down. We may experience seasons of labor and seasons of rest and the list could go on and on.
We can even experience different seasons as we walk out God's purpose for our lives. I know for me personally, God has made it clear to me that this is my season to write. While I know there are also other things He has for me to do, this is what He has me doing in this season. I could choose to fight it and attempt to do something else in my own strength or I can choose to embrace it and flow in the grace He has given me.
God's plan for our lives is perfect and He knows every step we need to take to fulfill that plan. Not only is His plan perfect, so is His timing. There are no shortcuts to fulfilling the perfect will of God in our lives. What we have to realize is the fact that trying to do the right thing in the wrong season can be just as disastrous as doing the wrong thing.
We have to recognize and acknowledge what season we’re in or we won’t be prepared for it. Can you imagine wearing shorts and a tank top in 10 degree weather? Or how about a wool coat, hat and gloves when it's 110 degrees outside? The odds of you surviving a season are drastically decreased when you aren't prepared for it. And if you don’t survive it, you certainly won’t reap the benefits of it.
Some seasons we enjoy more than others but that doesn’t mean we have to waste time in our favorite seasons dreading the day when our least favorite season will arrive. How many times has autumn rolled around and we realize we never went to the beach, we didn’t make it a point to wear our favorite sundress, we didn’t spend as much time as we wanted to with our children or grandchildren while they were out of school, and we failed to plant that garden yet another year. Many times we miss out on the benefits of the season we’re in because we’re always thinking about the season to come.
Every season has different characteristics but each one of them has purpose. You may not like the cold of winter, but I’m sure you can appreciate the winter frost helping to control an over-infestation of insects. Everybody looks forward to harvest season but how many of us actually get excited about the season to sow? The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,
For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
You may be in a season right now that you aren’t particularly enjoying. Maybe you’re in a season of waiting, or in a season of loss, or possibly in some season you never thought you’d ever find yourself in. No matter what season you’re in, just know that God is right there with you in the midst of that season. He promised to never leave you or forsake you. He is perfectly capable of helping you and guiding you through this season. Just remember, how you choose to go through this season just might determine the next season you get to experience.
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