I absolutely love fall. I know that each year it will bring with it a reprieve from the hotness of summer and the beautiful colors that paint the landscape near my home. I can't hardly wait to wear long sleeves again. And I can enjoy Pumpkin-spiced-whatever with the best of them. Fall is my season. I feel so much more productive and happy. I get to think about Halloween and fun/scary movies. Crisp nights that are followed by bright days. How can it get much better?
But the truth is that fall wouldn't seem so grand if it weren't for the struggle that I have with summer. I just don't care for summer much now that I'm an adult. As a child, I enjoyed being out of school and lounging around the pool. Now that I'm an adult, summer just means that the work I have to do will be done in the heat with an audience of mosquitos. If you can't tell Summer and I don't really get along anymore.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a season for everything. In chapter 3 verses 2 through 8 we see that seasons including birth, death, weeping, laughing, silence, speaking, loving, hating, peace and war. Some seasons are harder than others. I would venture to say that peace is a lot harder than war. I know that may sound backward to you, but it's a great deal easier to live in your flesh and fight about something than it is to make peace. That's why the bible says,
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
God sends down blessings when we have to do the hard stuff. That's a comforting thought to me. When we are going through those seasons that we just don't want to be in, we can be sure that is when God is sending us blessings. Sometimes to be a Christian means to look at things backward. The world would tell you that if you are going through a rough time that God has walked away from you. But, I know my Jesus and that's just not true. When I'm going through a rough time, that's when I get the deep down true blessings of being a follower of Christ.
Right now I'm going through a difficult season. I'm trying to be a stay at home mama to a little girl who has not yet learned that Dottie is not the center of the universe. I am trying to make our new house into our new home. I'm still trying to figure out what it means to no longer be a teacher in the classroom. I work to be the wife I believe God has called me to be for my husband. And, I'm trying to share the Gospel of Jesus through speaking engagements, a dining room bible study, and this blog. This season feels so overwhelming to me sometimes. But, I keep reminding myself of a few things.
1. Seasons don't last forever. Before I know it, my little girl will be off to school. I won't always be a stay-at-home mama. I will eventually get things in their place in this house, and we will no longer have tons of boxes sitting around. I may eventually go back to the classroom, or God may have something different planned for me. The point is, that everything has a limit. We don't stay in the same places forever, and seasons change. Just as the summer, thankfully, fades into fall the leaves will all drop with the temperature and then it'll be winter. Around about April, the frost will cease and spring will be ushered in. So, when we are in the tough seasons of this Christian life, we can take comfort in the fact that it will not last forever.
2. Each season has its own blessings. I can take comfort in the fact that I am blessed by God. Even when I'm in a rough place where things seem overwhelming and difficult, I am being blessed. Things could be worse. I have a home to clean and organize. I have possessions to find a place for in our new home. I have a beautiful daughter, who can be challenging, but teaches me who I want to be and who I pray she will want to be. I have a husband who loves and takes care of me. I have the ability to start a Bible study in my home without fear or punishment. I am blessed, even in my rough seasons.
3. God has His hand in it all. The verse from Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time for every matter under Heaven. This is all under God's control. He will not leave his children in a rough place. That's a guarantee from our Father in Jeremiah 29:11. He knows the plans he has for us and they are plans for good and not for harm. So when we are struggling in a difficult season, we can be blessed by remembering that God's got our backs. He wants us to be prosperous. That's not the same thing as wealthy, but that's a post for a different day.
When I find myself in a summer season, for me that's a time in my life when things just don't seem to be what I want them to be. They are difficult and wearing me out from trying. I remember that seasons change. Thank God for that reminder as October brings on the fall season. But, let us try not to forget that in those summer seasons there are still blessings. Summer brings with it much fruit. Remember that as you are fighting through the hard stuff. It will bear much fruit in your life on the other side of the work being done. I pray we can find God's blessings in whatever season we find ourselves in today.
Comments
Post a Comment