It’s clichéd, but true. Life is made up of seasons.
This is on my mind as we rush headlong toward the end of another school year.
Come fall, my oldest will be a senior in high school. One season, at least with her, will slowly be coming to an end. It will be a year of “lasts” – last first day of school, last high school basketball game, last choir competition, last band concert.
Sometimes you don’t see the change of seasons coming as clearly as this one is. Just like in nature, some seasons change gradually. You hardly recognize that one is over and another has begun until you look back.
I’ve always loved Ecclesiastes 3 where Solomon talks about the seasons. My husband’s been teaching out of this book of the Bible in our Sunday School class recently. It got me thinking about some lessons that might be helpful as we face different transitions in the future.
Most things in life – both blessings and trials – are given to us for a season.
Verse 1 ~ “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Friendships, opportunities, the flexibility of our schedules, and our health change from season to season. What we enjoy in one stage of life may not be available to us in the next.
On the other hand, a trial we face currently may not be an issue in a few years. Recently, when we faced a parenting challenge, my husband reminded me that “this, too, shall pass.”
God uses seasons to change us into what He would have us to be.
Verse 11a ~ “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:”
If life always ran along smoothly and we knew just what to expect, our faith would never grow. God wants to make each of us into a beautiful masterpiece by weaving into our lives those trials that will refine us.
And, of course, it’s important to remember that He works in His timeline, not ours. I’d like to get through any of those painful growing stages really fast, but He knows just the pace at which I need to grow.
Only God knows how each season will play out.
Verse 11b ~ “…no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
Where is our daughter going to go to college? How different will we be as a family of 3? God has all the answers. He knows before I do how it’s all going to work out. We just need to ask for His wisdom, and allow Him to guide us.
God wants us to find and enjoy the best in every season.
Verse 13 ~ “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.”
God has given us so many blessings to enjoy. From sweet friendships to glorious sunsets, good food to beautiful places to visit, we’re surrounded with things we can appreciate. No matter what season you’re in, look for small – and large – things to take pleasure in.
Each season has its “happy hello’s and sad goodbyes.”
Verse 4 ~ “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”
That “happy hello’s and sad goodbye’s” is a quote from my mom. Since we live a couple of states away, she and my dad are always excited to see us come for a visit, and then a bit sad every time we leave.
In the same way, every season has its joys and sorrows. It’s that way with my daughter graduating from high school next year. It’s bittersweet. I’ll be sad over what’s ending, yet very excited at what God has ahead of her.
Surrender each season to God.
Verse 14 ~ “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.”
Our God is sovereign. He is in control of every facet of our lives. As we begin to surrender to Him through the hard days as well as the easy ones, we’ll learn to trust Him even more.
So whatever season you find yourself in today, I hope you’ll embrace it for what it is. Enjoy the good parts, learn from the tough days, and remember that God has a purpose in all of it.
Related posts:
It’s a Good-Bye Time of Year
Just a Fancy Way to Say We Need to Learn to Wait
Parenting in Different Seasons
I just read about this very thing yesterday! I’m reviewing a book on becoming a better mother, and the author advised her readers to look for the good things in every season; even the difficult ones have good things. She also noticed that while we tend to want the mountain top experiences, growth happens in the valleys. Mountains usually are rocky with little growth and no trees, but valleys are lush and green with trees and other growth. I thought that was profound.
I still can’t bring myself to say, “Bring on the trials,” though. 😉
Yes – I love that analogy about the mountains and the valleys. I’m with you ~ I’d choose those mountaintop moments, but know that the valley experiences are necessary in order to grow.
Hope you’ve reacclimated to being home after your trip!
I really appreciate reading what you shared here. I have been through so many trials that it has been hard to keep the perspective of “seasons” being the reality. But what I have come to know so personally and painfully, is that there is no way for any of us to become more like Christ unless we are allowed to walk in the places that feel so dark. That we understand the Light so much more after we have really seen and experienced the darkness. It is as if we can spend our whole lives just learning to wait and trust, and it is very impacting to remember that while we cannot see what God is doing, we can have some measure of peace that He is working a good work in our lives and that it is not contingent on our emotions being right or in our striving to be good enough , but it rests on His faithfulness to see His good plan carried out in each of our lives because of who He is. Thank you so much for the encouragement this morning.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment here! I totally agree – it is through the hard times that we learn more about who God is and how we should trust Him. I know that for myself, my faith would be very shallow if I’d only ever experienced an easy life. So thankful that my “striving” does not earn His favor, but that He loves me continually and is faithful to complete His work in me.
Hope your day is a good one!
A senior!!!!!!!!! What a season, indeed. Sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about the end of a certain season; everything you’ve written here helps to refocus me with peace i His plan. I’m the type that needs constant reminders on this. 😛
I need the constant reminders, too! Had the final band concert of the school year last night, and exams start for my girls today. High school graduation is next Friday, and I’m planning to go, just so I know how everything will work for next year! 🙂