Changing Seasons

I was throwing a tantrum the other day. Well the adult version of it (it involves crying, complaining and just being mad at the world). I was so tired of having to fight and loose the same battle over and over again. I felt stuck in one place in my life. Resorting to reading my Bible, I thought God would give me a good word to comfort me. Instead of that, God called me to order. And the Scripture He used to do it made me hang my head in shame. The kids in our kids’ ministry can effortlessly recite the verse, and here was their pastor being schooled on it.

It reminded me that you can’t cheat with God. You won’t be pushed through to the next grade having not passed the current and learnt all the lessons. I realized me being stuck had nothing to do with God but everything to do with me. He was not being slow or delaying in granting me my heart’s desires, but I was the one not learning and changing therefore allowing myself to be ready to receive that which my heart desires.

I again realized that it was not about how much I knew, but how much I used that which I knew. It’s only then that what I knew could change my life. It’s no good to know how something works but not working it, and that’s where I’m stuck.

Okay I’ve stalled enough, here it is:

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

The issue with my crying and complaining was I wanted to skip seasons, I wanted to get to the next one already. This one’s taking too long. Anyone with a good mind knows nothing good can come out of skipping stages. Today we’re welcoming spring (yes, spring my black people, not summer). It had me thinking. Imagine we went straight from winter to summer, straight from summer to winter, no season to allow us to slowly transition into the changes in temperature. I’m sure the trees would be so shocked by the drop in temperature the leaves would fall and never grow back. Our bodies would also surely act up. This is because autumn and spring are those seasons which allow us to slowly get used to and expect the huge change that’s coming. Some, like me, might think these seasons are a waste of time, let’s just get to it, but their importance is preparing us for the next season. They’re the hall-way-seasons, the corridor-seasons, where you aren’t really anywhere because you’re transitioning to somewhere. But these are so important because they determine how well I stay once I get there.

Life has such seasons, and they have nothing to do with your age. We’ve ruined things by interpreting them through the eyes of age instead of purpose. God was never bothered by anyone’s age, it bothered Abraham that he was seventy five years old when he was told he’d be a dad, it bothered Jeremiah that he was so young when God called him to be a prophet, but God wasn’t bothered. God sees things through purpose, not age. What doesn’t bother God, shouldn’t bother me (so stop asking people when they’re getting married or having babies.)

To me this verse came across as “There’s a right time for everything.” And if there’s a right time for it, that means it’s not the right time at just any time. Regardless that I might feel it’s time, my feelings can mislead me. We’ve been warned that there are paths we see to be good but actually lead to death in the end. Why not trust God then, why not trust His perfect timing? Why not endure, wait (without complaining) so that in the right time, at the proper season, I might be given what I desire.

And you know what, there’s something to enjoy in every season, believe it or not. I dread winter, but I love the indoors and driving, and I’ve found that winter is the best for these two for me. I doubt we’d enjoy hot chocolate in the scorching sun…or swimming in the cold. So instead of complaining (which doesn’t change a thing), find the things that are worth enjoying in the season you’re in, explore, change your perspective, look for the silver lining to your dark cloud.