“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1
The author of the book of Ecclesiastes makes a simple, yet profound statement. For many of us, it’s easy to know that there are seasons, but it just seems really hard to know how to make the most of them. If you’re like me, then you know this to be true.
I’ll never forget the big tree in our backyard in Midland, TX. I think it was some sort of maple tree, and man, it really had a canopy of leaves throughout the summer and into the fall. We knew each year when the weather was about to start changing, because the ‘ol tree’s leaves would start to change to all sorts of radiant fall colors. It would go from this lush summer green to all kinds of red, brown, yellow, and the like. As soon as we started to see the leaves changing, my twin brother, Paul, and I would always start to sing the song, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” and it certainly was! We knew the weather was changing, and that meant cool nights, fires in the fireplace, football, and fun. We would anticipate each year the changing colors of that tree, and each year we were triggered again to the changes in our lives that we would capitalize on and anticipate with such zeal. That ‘ol tree probably isn’t standing today, but for the many years that it was, it served as a consistent reminder to my brothers and me that the hot summer was ending and the cool and crisp fall was in the air!
We’re familiar with other major markers of seasons in our lives too. It’s easy to recognize that major life-events, like graduating high school or college, start a new season of life. We know that a wedding day, the birth of a baby, or the first day of being an empty nester each signal a new period and transition in our lives. We recognize these major life movements, and we’re generally able to plan accordingly—or at least understand that they’re here. For instance, it’s not too often that you have a couple forget that their wedding day is upon them. No, that’s usually a day that has not only been recognized, respected, but also redeemed in all its glory. However, for many it’s just the years after the wedding day that the anniversary day becomes easier to forget. Admit it, as life begins to settle in you’ve come close to forgetting your anniversary at least once. And so, the big life-events are pretty much just as recognizable as the changing of the seasons. However, it’s when the reminders don’t come that we tend to lose the recognition of our seasons, which can lead to regretting instead of redeeming the time as we move from one season to the next. How many times have you said, “…the days seem to turn into years…?” or “…the kids have just grown up before our eyes…?” or “…where did all those years go…?” If we’re not careful we can simply go crazy with regret thinking about the days gone by, and that’s exactly what the Enemy would want.
But enter the glory of grace. You’re in your season for a reason—whatever it may be—and one reason may be to reconcile with the years gone by and accept the grace of God that has covered all that the locust have eaten. God is a God of new beginnings, and this moment is a good place to start claiming that truth. The beginnings are new because Christ has come to make all things new. He transforms you and uses all things for good. How does He transform you? Faith. When you first believed that His words and works were true, and that He died in your place paying the penalty for your sins–you transferred your trust from yourself to be made right with God to Him. That same faith that saved you is the same faith that continues to guide you as walk each day in the power of the Spirit. It’s a profound reality, simple to accept, but easy to forget. God has made provision to be made right with Him through faith, and He makes a continual provision to be healed, restored, reconciled, and joy-filled through that same faith. Trust Him, and anticipate great things ahead!
— September 9, 2016