Ever feel like you’re standing still while life is moving all around you? You have big dreams, and a bold vision but it seems nothing and no one is cooperating to move them forward. I tell you I have been there more than a time or two. It can be so frustrating when you want something badly, worse still when you feel like God has said it is yours.
As time wears on you start to question your faith and your sanity. You wonder, am I really supposed to be pursuing my dreams? Did God give me this vision or did I make it up? Maybe I should just give up and try something else. It’s usually about then that we run into someone who says something like, “Don’t worry! It’s just not your season. Be patient. Your time is coming.”
I’m chuckling as I type this because I am sure I have uttered similar words to friends in an attempt to encourage. I’m also sure that in a similar situation that is the last thing I’ve wanted to hear. You see, when I’m ready to get after it I want to hear somebody say, “It’s your season. This is your time!”
Now for those of you not familiar with the phrase, when a person says, “It’s your season” they’re usually saying it’s your springtime – time for growing and blossoming. It means the waiting is over, and God is kicking your life into high gear. When it’s “your season”, you believe anything is possible.
But lately I’ve been thinking that maybe we’ve missed part of the message on the seasonality of life. Are we only to celebrate when it’s our season of growth and prosperity? Just because we’re not doing the thing we think we’re supposed to be doing does it mean we’re not doing anything at all? I cannot fathom that a God who created four seasons of nature only gave us one life season to enjoy. No, I think maybe we have put our own selves in this box. Perhaps the simple truth is…
Whatever the weather, it’s your season.
I know we may not be thrilled about that. You see we love the spring when everything is fresh and new, growing and blossoming into a riotous display of color. Spring is the visual manifestation of hope, and when it’s the spring of our lives unexpected blessings shower us like the fresh rain. There is a glorious unfolding of new opportunities and assignments.
Summer continues the magnificent celebration, displaying its beauty all around. It’s our high season, and everyone wants to be a part of what’s happening in our lives.
But in the fall we start to get worried. There’s beauty, but it looks different. We get nervous when we realize it won’t last and spend countless hours trying to hold on, even as we see it falling away. We can’t understand why everything is changing, and more importantly why we can’t stop it.
By the time our winter arrives we’re a little depressed. What we had appears to be gone. There’s nothing new on the horizon, and we don’t have the frenetic pace to which we’ve become accustomed. So instead we run around trying to find something to do, because if we’re not busy we’re not productive. And surely we must be productive because if we’re not productive we don’t have any value.
It seems so silly reading it, but it can be so painful living it. Many of us have built our whole self-worth based on what we do rather than who we are. So when we can’t do what we do, we don’t know what to do with ourselves.
Maybe we can learn a few things to ease our mind by studying the life of a tree.
From the time a tree emerges, it has a preprogrammed life cycle that maximizes its experience in each of the changing seasons. There are some that are created to stay green year-round, others to experience a more visual metamorphosis each year. For those trees that change in a more public fashion – similar to us – their path is clear.
- The spring and summer are its growing seasons. There’s plenty of sunlight and the tree flourishes producing beautiful green leaves. You would think at this point the tree reaches its full glory. After all, what could be more beautiful than beholding it in full bloom?
- But as fall approaches, there’s less sunlight and many trees begin to exhibit a magnificent array of reds, yellows and oranges. Amazingly the colors have been there all along, but the sunlight of the summer months prevented them from shining through.
- As winter sets in the leaves fall from the tree. We usually say the tree loses its leaves, but in reality the tree secretes a chemical that causes the leaves to shed. It realizes that during the colder months nutrients are scarce. So it sheds its leaves in order to go dormant – conserving energy for the rebirth of spring.
There are so many rich life lessons in each bullet I could write a whole blog on each one! But if we take away just one nugget, let it be the importance of embracing each season for the beauty and benefits it beholds. Yes our spring and summers are magnificent, but our fall and winters can also be full of life and wonder and joy.
Our challenge is that we often spend our time pining away for the summer rather than shedding, resting and renewing in our winter. Perhaps its because we’ve never learned to value stillness. We think we have to be busy to be of benefit.
But the truth is sometimes God sits us down – to restore, renew, rejuvenate, and reconcile us unto Himself. It’s not that it’s not our season – it’s just not springtime. And that is okay. We are okay. We are still valuable, and beloved.
Whatever season of life you’re in embrace it! If you’re in a winter rest period, rest – and do so without guilt, apology or shame. If it’s your springtime, tend to your budding blooms. Is it your summer season? Then show out and give God all the glory.
Seasons change and life moves on as surely as the hands of time. Let’s make the most of where we are right now, and trust God to manage the rest.
Loving on Me as I Love You! ❤
Brandon Scott says
What an inspiring post! The timing couldn’t have been better for me to hear this! Thanks!
Rhonda Long says
That was awesome I have been going through a hard time and I was in prayer and God to spoke to me and said I am coming into my season so I looked up coming into my season and I came across this awesome article and it really brought clarity and liberation and I’d like to thank you because it was exactly what I needed to hear thank you again
katrinamcghee says
Wonderful! I am so glad the words resonated with your spirit. All God’s blessings to you as you continue your transformation. ❤
Anita. says
Katrina, that was indeed a soul-stirring write-up. The symbolic connection of seasons with human lives, was very meaningfully articualted.
Superlative abd Superlike!!
Katrina McGhee says
Thank Anita! I’m glad it spoke to you. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day! 🙂