The Changing Seasons of Life
Fall is my favorite time of the year. At least in the fall! I actually love all of the seasons and am blessed to live in a part of the country where there are four very distinct seasons. The older I get, the more I enjoy the change of seasons. It reminds me so much of life. Football season has arrived (not one of the four, but important nevertheless). Soon, the leaves will begin to change around the nation. Mountain foothills will be alive with color. And then they will be gone, and another season will come. Interestingly, this is the word God chose to use to describe all of life. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). More than 65 verses in Scripture refer to seasons. Seasons are God’s measurement of the stages of life.Transitions
Seasons are marked by change. The autumn leaves turning colors and falling to the ground are a reminder to us all that time is passing. And while we love some seasons more than others, God uses every season in life to bring us closer to Himself. He is the One who transcends it all – eternal, immutable God. The last few months have been some of the most blessed and some of the most challenging of my life. I do not understand how those two things coexist, but they usually do. The season we are currently in can be described best in one word: transition.
You know – the “in between” times of life. If you live long enough, you begin to recognize those periods that move you out of one season and into the next. Our oldest daughter and her husband have recently given us our second grandchild. Our second daughter got married and has moved to another state. A few weeks ago we said goodbye as our son left for his senior year at college.
Over the last few months, new team members and updates to our new facility have been added to our ministry. I recently turned 50 years old. Life has been full of a whole range of emotions and changes.
Not bad. Just different. And, in some ways…disorienting. These are the times that must drive us to the God who never changes. I have been meditating much on Ecclesiastes 3, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” These are the truths that God is teaching me in this time of so much transition.
1. Life is marked by seasons
You cannot measure simply by days or years. There are definite periods of time when the Lord deals with us in specific ways. Beginning in Genesis 1:14, God Himself started setting the seasons. And He still does. An all-wise God changes the seasons as He sees best (Daniel 2:21). Watching my children grow up is a constant reminder that nothing stays the same…except God.
2. Every season is different
Take the time to read Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. These are the extremes of life and, in time, we experience all of them. There are seasons of joy and of sorrow. Seasons of labor and of rest. Seasons of calm and of storms. The seasons of life change, but the Lord of life does not.3. Some seasons are more enjoyable than others
Fall is my favorite season of the year, but you cannot stay in your favorite season forever. We do not get to pick our season or determine when one begins and another ends. God created seasons (Genesis 1:14) and only He controls them (Daniel 2:21). Some seasons seem to go so quickly; others seem to hang on forever. Stop enduring the season you are in and see God at work in it…4. God works in every season
Seasons provide what the earth needs at a particular time, and prepare the earth for the next season. We could not stay in summer forever, and we would not stay in winter forever! And so it is with life. We need what God has for us in every season! We have seasons of weariness, but He is always strong. Seasons of perplexity, but He is always wise. We have seasons that seem unproductive, but the Lord is always accomplishing His plan. Yes, God works in every season.5. This season is getting you ready for the next season
Every season prepares us for the next, and even the hard seasons have their purpose. Every season provides something you need, and every season prepares you for the season that is ahead. Make the most of it. Trust God in every season.6. Every season is getting you ready for eternity
Solomon’s classic description of life’s seasons leads to this amazing expression: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We see only time; He sees eternity. Perhaps you feel stuck in this season of life, but the eternal God is preparing you for eternity. Someday the seasons will stop changing, and we will enter one endless season of glory. All will be beautiful then, and we will understand more about every season He allowed us to go through.“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Peter 1:6). “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
7. Stop trying to change the season and seek to know your God
This is the ultimate aim of all of life! A young Solomon writing Song of Solomon, a middle age Solomon writing Proverbs, an aging Solomon writing Ecclesiastes – all needed the same thing: to know God. Instead of trying to get out of the season you are in, seek to let Him put in to you what He has for this season. It will not be a wasted season if you come to know Him more intimately.Make the Most of the Season You Are In
I do not know what season you are living through at this time. While it may be bright and sunny outside it can be dark and gloomy within. When some are rejoicing, others are walking through their most difficult days. How can you make the most of whatever season you find yourself in?- Remember the lessons and blessings of yesterday. LOOK BACK…not with regret but with gratitude. Have you seen the Lord come through? He who was – is! He who did – will!
- Consider your goals and prayers for tomorrow. LOOK AHEAD. What are you asking God to do in the days ahead? Have faith in God and keep your hope rooted in Him.
- Concentrate on the opportunities and divine appointment of today. LOOK AROUND. In the most challenging times the Lord accomplishes His greatest work. God is with you and for you.
WATCH: Seeing God in the Seasons of Life
Study the Book of Ecclesiastes with the series “Life is Not a Game”
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Such needed advice. Every believer goes through these times. Lean into the One that never changes.
Thank you so much for writing down the lessons God is teaching you. They ministered to my heart this morning. May the Lord richly bless you in this season!
Good word. Much needed now in our lives. Thanks for the reminder.
Bro. Scott I have always looked at every change, every new season kinda like a kid seeing a Mountain for the first time or the Ocean for the first time. I just look at my seasons in Awe. Never really questionably but , ” Can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like?”
I’m turning 75 in October, and can’t wait to see what that’s going to be like. When I was a kid I often wondered if I will be seeing 75. I really thought that Jesus would already had come and got us. Then when my Dad turned 50, my twin sister and I was in Awe thinking and talking about him being half of a hundred.
I have always had the attitude of just just stop and embrace any season with, WOW, I wonder what will happen next. Kept wondering if God had a surprise around the corner for me. I was anxious to get around that corner and see what was there.
What I loved about All the seasons I’ve been through and seen, God went right through me them with me. The good, the bad and the ugly.
I have lived my life for Him. That’s all I ever wanted. To be found Faithful. Not sure what’s around the next bend, not worried about it, just enjoying the journey. I know He’s preparing me for Eternity.