“I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of old age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we’ll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever. And so we’ll be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
1 For everything there is a season,a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work?
10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
HELLO, FABULOUS READERS!
This late afternoon, I thought I'd take a moment to share a little realness. For the past fifteen years, I have been fighting an uphill battle in a season that does not appeal to me. A season of unplanned health issues.
The average season is 91 days and just as God has planned this so has he customized my seasons in life.
Some seasons are good and some
take us out of our comfort zone. They are ways that God has captured my heart and my faith.
Whether, we like it or not seasons are inevitable in life.
What particular season appeals to you or not?
Why do some seasons speak to us more than others?
Do our life temperatures have a profound impact on us?
I feel hotter now than I did at 20, no pun intended. Getting older and leaving my former "Hot life" long ago has been a series of momentous decisions, that pesky passage of time that defines change; That belly that looks like a tush in front of a lumpy, squishy, mishapen body from child bearing years. Nobody feels the need to tell you.
The extent of this state of affairs is the season that defines me.
Is it possible to hang onto a past season or park in the wrong season when the timing of those season is beyond our control?
Isn't it interesting that it seems like we are continually longing for a different season? Isn't it perplexing that our most difficult seasons are times that God works the most in our lives?
Seasons have shaped me.
Seasons have strengthened me.
Seasons have enriched my life experiences.
What is so awesome about seasons is that no season lasts forever. Good seasons don't last. Trying seasons don't last.
I have learned to accept the season I am in and work with what that season requires. They are reminders that the timing of seasons is under God's control.
God will change the season of life I'm in when He's ready to change something about me.
The reality of my current season is humbling, a continuum of gratitude and blessing.
We have seasons because the earth is tilted (wonky) as it makes its yearly journey around the sun.
We have life seasons because we live in a (wonky) fallen world.
The North Pole always points in the same direction and earth revolves around the sun.
Seasons of life point to our redemption, one way if life revolves around the SON.
Where am I in this season of life?
Cultivating my relationship with God, so that together with the psalmist I am able to say,
“I have relied on you all my life; you have protected me since the day I was born. I will always praise you.” (71:6).
Isn't life strange? The fall season is so beautiful, yet everything is dying. You never know what kind of opportunities you will encounter from one season to another.
You can't run around trying to stay in you're favorite season. That would defy the key to contentment.
Let's face it, some seasons never come. How you handle the present season seems to prepare for the next one.
We see seasons in our relationships, finances, different decades, our education, careers, and stages of spiritual life.
Many times I was able to persevere in trials and adversities of life because I knew I was only in a season. For some of us they may never end.
When a chapter or a season ends, it's as if we are never satisfied with God's timing. It's hard when something you couldn't imagine ending ends.
We ask ourselves:
How long?
Will I survive?
Am I strong enough?
Changing seasons add to our testimony. Some seasons seem to come and go, and then return again.
Remember, parts of your journey includes seasons.
"Clearly, I’m still adjusting, but having so many women around me going through the same thing makes it easier, as does, of course, having a bit of perspective. Conveniently, that comes with age." Quote from "My Formerly Hot Life" by Stephanie Dolgoff. (worth reading, at least the first chapter, for the chuckles.)
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