Savor the Season

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” That’s so true of our lives. Our lives are made up of a series of seasons – good and bad, easy and hard. The trouble with seasons is that you have to pass through them – you can’t just skip over them. You can’t just decide to jump directly from the beautiful colors of fall into the fresh beauty of spring without first enduring the cold season of winter. And, sometimes, during the long cold days of winter, we can become so focused on looking for spring – for what’s coming next - that we forget to live fully in the current season.

I just finished reading Mary Beth Chapman’s book (Choosing to SEE). If you aren’t familiar with the Chapman’s, their adopted Chinese daughter was killed in a tragic car accident at the age of 5. Mary Beth is living in a hard season. But, her story isn’t one of despair. Instead, it’s a story of hope and the faithfulness of God to walk with us through every season – no matter how hard.

When I put the book down, I felt really challenged. You see, I’m struggling with my current season – fighting with it, really. It’s not that this season is hard, but it’s not quite comfortable. Like Mary Beth, I like to be in control, and her story helped me to realize that sometimes we have to be forced to give up that control so that God can have his perfect work in our lives.

Every season has its own joys, challenges, and lessons to be learned. Rather than hiding out and waiting for a new season to arrive, I’m realizing that I need to settle in and embrace this season that I’m living in. When I look back on this season, I don’t want to be filled with regret for the things that could have been. Instead, I want to be able to see that God’s grace was permeating my very being and sustaining me every step of the way.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night. He 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. Psalm 1:1-3