Seasons

Winter, spring, summer, and fall. We all expect the seasons to come and go each year, and each one brings unique feelings, things to look forward to, and even some annoyances or hardships. However, there are seasons in our lives as well, and I'm not just talking about stages of life (childhood, middle school, young marrieds, empty nesters, etc.). I'm talking about seasons where you were so happy that nothing could bring you down, or seasons that it feels like each day you're just trying to survive the trial you're going through. I hope you get the picture. Our lives are constantly changing, and that makes each season we go through a unique one. However, one thing is consistent through all the seasons of our lives, and that's this: God uses the seasons you go through to mold you to look more like Jesus.

Seasons in scripture

Maybe you saw this coming, but God's Word talks about this in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. I encourage you to stop reading this paragraph and jump to the bottom of this blog where I have the passage written for you before you keep reading.

Now that you have read the passage (you did jump down to the bottom, right?), you can see that there is a dichotomy in the seasons we go through. To be born and to die, to kill and heal, to mourn and to dance, and to tear and to sew, just to name a few. These things are fundamentally opposite to each other, yet they all have a purpose in our lives. God uses these seasons to mold us.

God changes us through seasons

I'm sure all of us can look back over the years and say, "I'm not the same person as I used to be." That's because God uses the seasons we go through to change us. In seasons of loss, He can teach us to be grateful for what we have. We might be going through a season of great suffering and learning what it means to cast our cares on Him. Maybe you are in a really calm season, and you are learning what it means to feel God's peace. Whatever the season you are in, I can promise you that God is going to use that season to make you look more like the man or woman God is calling you to be. I look back on some of the hardest seasons of my life and realize that God was not only with me the whole time, but He used that season in my life for a particular purpose. Early in life, I experienced a lot of deaths in my family. There was a season where I lost four or five people close to me within a few years. One death after another, and it began to frighten me. I found myself thinking, "What if I'm next? What happens if I die?" I look back and consider, now being a Christian, that death us a very real and scary reality the world has to face; however, it is just the beginning for the believer. One day, my death will be my beginning, and that is a very comforting thought. I had to really wrestle with death before I saw Jesus, and He used that dark period of my life to show Himself to me. 

What season are you in?

You are in some kind of season. No one is in "seasonal limbo." So, ask yourself, "What season am I in?" Here are a few things I would encourage you to pray when going through any season you might be in:

1.         God, what are you teaching me right now? (your current season)

a.         God wants to teach you something. Ask for His guidance to show you what this is.

2.         God, what have you taught me up to this point? (previous seasons you have experienced)

a.         Reflect on the lessons He has already taught you. Remember you are not the same person you were in those past seasons.

3.         God, help me to trust Jesus more through this season.

a.         When we learn to trust Him, we can be content in any season that comes our way.

Whatever season you are in, I pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to you and show you just how much He loves you. Take heart, brothers and sisters; the everlasting season of love, joy, peace, and life is coming!

In Christ,

Jeremy Provenghi

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is 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 seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, 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 for war, and a time for peace.