The Ever-Changing Seasons of Life November 15, 2020
Have you ever applied the brakes and found out there were no brakes?
The first time I remember that happening to me, I was driving in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Traffic was heavy. I came to a busy intersection and braked. Zero response. I was approaching a line of stopped cars, so I turned into the curb where no cars were parked and managed to stop without impacting another vehicle or worse yet, a pedestrian. That happened a long, long time ago. But, I never forgot the moment of near panic and the lesson learned. Just because you hit the brakes doesn’t mean you are going to stop.
One day, I was travelling in a car again, but this time my husband, Dave, was driving and my three oldest children, Paul, Laura and Mary, were with us. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I don’t remember if it was my husband or the kids that was pushing me to the edge but I felt near break point. I remember thinking I wanted to be any place but where I was.
Then a thought materialized. If only I could put the rest of that day on hold and kind of like put it in a bank to come back to at a future date. Maybe when the kids were all grown. I thought I would most likely really enjoy that day instead of wishing it away.
Wow! Was I ever right! To go back to a day when my husband was still alive and my children were young. Awesome.
But that’s not how it works. Does it?
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
The funny thing about the change of our seasons is that we cannot stop it or reverse it. Every living creature is busy in preparation for the changes to come. From the smallest insect to the largest mammal, every single living thing is aware that we are in for change. Change is inevitable.
We trust in God to guide us into tomorrow. He alone knows the changes we will face. We should pray a similar prayer to that of St Francis of Assisi. ” God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”
We are creatures of habit and resist change. I lost my cell phone a few weeks ago. I have procrastinated in even looking for a replacement. I hate it. I don’t want to learn how to use a new phone! On the other hand, there are limited alternatives.
Why don’t we like change? Unwanted change moves us out of our comfort zones. We are not sure of the outcome of change and often times we are resistant in accepting some of the changes that we will experience. I keep looking for that lost cell phone! It’s time to move on.
It has been said that there are four seasons to a man’s life. 1. There is the time when he believes in Santa Clause 2. There is the time when he no longer believes in Santa Clause 3. There is the time when he is Santa Clause. 4. There is the time when he looks like Santa Clause.
All of life, including human activity, is part of a cycle of life. We all experience the seasons of life or the changes that occur in their own time, whether we enjoy them or not. We love some of the changes and we can hate other changes. Yet, God has something good to teach us in all the seasons of life we must face. The important thing to remember is that God is with us to bring good to us from all that we experience. Paul reminds us, Romans 8: 28, when he says, ” And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” God is always working to ultimately bring good to us in all that we experience.
His name was Victor, but he felt like a loser. He didn’t do very well in school a when he was 16 years old, a teacher advised him to drop out of high school and get a job. He didn’t do much better in the working world so that, by the time he was 32, he had failed at 76 different jobs.
But applying for job number 77 was to change Victor’s life. As a part of the interview process, he was required to take an I.Q. test – a test designed to measure his intelligence. A score of 100 is normal. Victor scored 161. He had never before realized it, but Victor was a genius. The knowledge of that fact was transforming in his life. Victor Serienko went on to become famous for his research in laser surgery and to become president of MENSA, an organization for geniuses – all because a test said that he was special.
Life is made up of seasons. There is a season to gather seed, a season to plant seed, a season to water the seed, and a season to reap the results. We recognize seasons as Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. God sends different seasons to teach us different lessons.
There are no short cuts to maturity. When you try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. In America, tomatoes are usually picked before they are ripened so they won’t bruise during shipping to the stores. Then, before they are sold, these green tomatoes are sprayed with CO2 gas to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they are no match to the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato from your garden that is allowed to mature slowly.
Psalm 1:3 – He (the righteous) is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
God uses change to promote our growth and His glory. Change will cause us to reevaluate our lives and make adjustments. Change can move us to look at ourselves differently and see our lives from a new perspective so that we can change for the better.
Change will cause us to seek God’s guidance. When we are faced with change that we cannot control, we seek God and He will direct our paths. Change will cause us to depend upon God.
God uses change to change us.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.