A Lesson On Seasons

A Lesson on Seasons: (Audio)

I remember a first. It was about 3rd grade and I’m sure I had never paid any attention to the calendar hanging by the teacher’s desk. It was a DIY type, you know, slide out the old month, and put the new month in the slot. The same was true for every day of the month. You moved the first day of the month into the proper week/day slot and adjusted the remainder of the calendar accordingly.

Only, I had never thought about what the next month would be, nor when the first of the next month started. For some reason, some prior lesson had flown over my head and I just didn’t get it, nor did I care that I didn’t know it.

Then a classmate was selected to update the calendar. And I watched, for what I suspect was the very first time, that she slotted the new month, starting day of the week, an emblem for the seasonal change, and when the Full Moon would happen!

For some reason, I never knew what she knew, nor did I ever wonder why I did not know. It was off my radar. Out of my attention span. 

But one of the things I remember very vividly, she knew when the first day of the new season would start. We may have been moving into Fall, or Winter, but she knew! Now, maybe there was a cheat sheet that showed the various dates and their major events, but the fact that she knew that… Just blew me away.

Over the past several months, weeks and especially days, I’ve analyzed some things and have come to a conclusion.

We fail to sense the start, middle, or even ending of the season. Then we wake up one morning. Surprise! The leaves are falling, apples are ripening, grass has stopped growing and the mornings have grown brisk.

Life is like this way too often. We are living day by day and suddenly we are in the midst of a seasonal shift and we failed to catch it.

When you live in the far north, then it’s easier to sense the shifting season. The closer to the equator, well, perhaps you only know because the calendar tells you so! But here’s an important thought for the day.

Life goes on no matter the season you experience. 

And this life has a season of its own. You can experience any one of them internally while experiencing the shifting calendar just like everyone else. It may be spring outside, leaves are budding, days are getting longer, and the chill of winter loses its grip. But in our personal lives, it may be autumn where things are shutting down and heading to a dormant status.

And if I know anything about the dynamics of seasons, organization, families, and nations, we all experience the same thing. The calendar may speak one certain direction, but life is throwing a curveball and sending you spinning in a totally different direction.

Sometimes we think our goal is to “change the world” – sometimes my goal is simply to make it through this present valley or climb the mountain!

Here’s my thought for the day. You need to take personal stock of the season of life you are in. Personally, corporately, and even your national politics. On the other side of the season is another season of time that can be a rebound or a deeper unexpected shift. Regardless, life goes on. Work, family, getting up and getting on – all tasks need to continue.

The Apostle Paul wrote from jail to several of his congregations that he had started. All were praying for the season of his life, and he knew that his imprisonment was for the furtherance of the Gospel. (Colossians 4:2-5, Ephesians 6:18-20, Philippians 1:12-14) But he spoke power to those who were praying for him.

• Pray for a door of opportunity
• Pray for my mouth to speak boldly
• Pray for those who hear my testimony and the Gospel message

He wasn’t praying for a release from his bonds, rather, he was praying that the commission given to him by Jesus would continue even from his imprisonment.

This speaks volumes to me. Keep on Keeping on! Even when life leaves you twisting in the wind. Don’t stop doing what you are called to do just because there is a season change. Keep doing your job.

Why? Listen to Paul’s solid statement of faith!

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
(Galatians 6:9 NKJV)

Around you, right now, are a host of witnesses of those who have done it before, and those who are just waiting to prove they were right and you were wrong.

They will remember your faithfulness to keep moving forward, even when life was pulling you backward!

“…Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
(Matthew 26:41 NKJV)

Remember this one thing, it’s a God-given thought to my mind the other day.

Our strength and resilience is learned in daily Life, but revealed in moments of tragedy and struggle. Prepare now to prove your mettle.