Seasons

When you see the word seasons, my guess is that your immediate thought goes to the seasons that the earth experiences due to its axis tilt and orbit around the sun... winter solstice, spring equinox, summer solstice and autumn equinox. Most of us have a favorite season. And it seems that no matter which season we are in, we get tired of it and want the next season to arrive. Spring is beautiful but... I'm ready for the beach and swimming. Autumn is great but enough already... let's get on with winter so that we can see some snow and go skiing. We never seem to be satisfied.

But there are a host of other things that exist for a period of time that can best be described as a season:

College football season, prom season, pollen season, bow season (deer hunting,) mating season, peak travel season, bathing suit season, ski season, baseball season, flu season... I think you get my drift. 

The bible also mentions seasons. One passage in particular can be found in the Book of Ecclesiastes. In Chapter 3:1-8 it says (in the King James translation:)

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which was planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

Tradition holds that Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon, however, many commentators and historians suggest a different author. Regardless of which very wise person wrote it, you must acknowledge the obvious truth found in those 8 verses. We don't necessarily like all the truths found in those words because they describe contrasting realities; some that we like, some that we don't.

We enjoy the seasons of life that go in accordance to our wishes, desires, and plans. We enjoy, more than others, certain seasons of our children's childhoods. People say things like, "enjoy this phase of their life because, before you know it, they will be grown."

In our careers we experience seasons... seasons of growth and promotion, seasons of raises and being an influencer, seasons of being highly valued and impactful. But, after enough time, things can change and not necessarily for the better.

A friend and I were sorta talking about this topic the other day. We are both old guys but remember when our opinions and influence in a certain domain were respected and requested. But now it is no longer our time to be the influencers, change makers, or decision-makers. That time has now passed to another generation of influencers and decision-makers... as it should be. And we need to be OK with that. A time to influence and a time to be influenced.

(I'm the bald one)

An interesting (at least to me) coincidence occurred in the last two days. I was looking on my old laptop yesterday for a Word document and, in doing so, came across a letter I had written in November 2012 to our then senior pastor. In it, I acknowledged the many changes that our church was wrestling with and the dissatisfaction with the way things were that I sensed was swirling around. I was the worship leader in our contemporary service at the time and had been in that role for 7 years. I had prayed and been sensing that it might be time for me to step aside and let someone else take over the duties of worship leader. So I offered to resign. My sense was obviously correct as my resignation was immediately accepted. I did agree to stay on until a new worship leader could be found, which took until April 2015 to accomplish. The coincidence was that today, a Facebook Memory from 9 years ago popped up that showed pictures of me and the praise team from my last Sunday leading worship... April 22, 2015. My role leading worship was meant to only be for a season... not forever. A time to lead and a time to be led.

But, our instincts are to hold on for dear life to all the things we want not to change. We lament, "why can't things be like they used to be?" Or, in contrast, "when will this miserable time come to an end?"

Because, as the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us so eloquently and directly, life is a continual series of seasons and change. Some of those come back around and repeat like the earth's seasonal cycles (although never exactly the same.) But some seasons have a start and they have an end, never to be repeated. Some of those seasons will be the kinds we wish for while others will be seasons that we wish would just stop.

But we need to try to see God at work in all our seasons... seasons of great joy and seasons of lament and difficulty. Because He is there with us in all of them and there is something He desires to teach us through all our seasons. Even if it is just reminding us that He loves us and has everything under control.

To every thing there is a season.

And in the words of Pete Seeger: turn, turn, turn.

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