With summer quickly approaching, I'm mindful of the spiritual seasons of my life. I'm a Spring and Autumn kind of gal, myself. Who isn't? But I'm also aware that it is the seasons of Winter and Summer where the preparation for growth is so prevalent. I suppose that I should embrace these seasons as the intended cycle of my life but, in all honesty, I still prefer Spring and Autumn. Call it spiritual immaturity, if you like. I do.
One Thing I Know For Sure
Just as God created the world within a framework of seasons, He created you and me within a framework of seasons. There is an order amidst the seeming chaos. Life is cyclical.
Take a look at a brief description of the seasons. What season are you in?
Winter
Barren. Desolate. Isolated. These are the words that come to mind when I think of my winter seasons. It's a lethargic state. Sometimes depressive. Bleak. These winter seasons can be brutal. Questions arise. Where are you, Lord? Why me? Sometimes, there is no voice for prayer. Thank God we have the Holy Spirit as intercessor.
Spring
Renewal. Rebirth. Life. Following a winter season, often comes Spring. We made it through perseverance. God brought us through the desolation of winter and we "feel" again. There is a renewed sense of purpose in Spring. An energy produced from the lethargy of Winter. We are alive. The planning begins again.
Summer
Hot. Movement. Sweat. With the clear vision and mission newly birthed in Spring, comes the work of Summer. Thoughts in the head from Winter move to feelings in the heart from Spring to work in the hands in Summer. God designed us for work. It dates back to creation in the garden of Eden.
Autumn
Plenty. Harvest. Fulfillment. The work of our hands produces the fruit of our labor. It's the fulfillment of our vision. Our labor is rewarded with tangible produce. We look at the seasons of our life and realize just how good He really is. Promises fulfilled. Questions answered. Obedience and perseverance turns to treasure.
Looking Through A New Lens
Until I truly understood the seasons of my life, God's word seemed contradictory at times. During a Winter season, I would read the Bible and find a promise that seemed so contradictory to my current season. I would ponder it. Internalize it into something false. I couldn't see through the barrenness of my soul.
Then God would bring Spring into my life and with it a new lens from which to look. His lens. As the cycle of my life continues, I am aware of these seasons. I choose to believe what He has promised. If that promise is not currently being fulfilled, it will come in another season.
I believe. Do you?
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4 comments:
Wow! Oh my gosh, Randee, that is beautiful and amazing. I never thought of my life having seasons and it's such a perfect analogy. (I think I'm in Summer.) I love what you said at the end: "If that promise is not currently being fulfilled, it will come in another season." What a blessed way to look at my life and to always hang on to hope with the passing of the seasons.
Great minds think alike! The seasons you talk about are exactly what my book "Why Bother Looking? Finding God in Your Seasons of Life" talks about. I describe Autumn as a time of change and transition though. I wrote the book based on Nicole Nordeman's song "Every Season."
If anyone is interested, my website has a 'Seasons of Life' quiz you can take to find out what season of life you are in :)
www.lynnjarrett.com
Great post Randee! I am trying to figure out which season I am actually in right now. I'm not quite sure which one. I think I am sort of in between stages of Winter and Spring if there is such a thing. I went and took your quiz at your site Lynn so we'll see what that says.
Just as nature rests in a blanket of winter protection feeding from underground during the winter months that we consider bleak and gloomy, so too is a time of being nurtured in God’s protection. The results of nurturing and tending are displayed in the glorious renewal of spring time.
Thus begins another year of seasonal changes. Learn to live fully in each one for they prepare you for the next season.
Anne S
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