Sometimes I want to yell out, “But I’m not ready! I love the season I am in!” At other times I
can’t wait for the season to end.
So what is this really all about? Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time and a season for
everything. Personally, I like the good seasons: A time to live; a time to plant; a time to laugh.
But the Lord also includes: A time to die; a time to uproot; and a time to weep – along with
many more.
Why can’t it all just be good? The truth is that in verse 11, He says, “He has made everything
beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what
God has done from beginning to end.”
That is so true! I cannot begin to figure out what God is doing in my life or in the world. I just
have to trust that His Word is true and that His ways and thoughts are higher. (Isa. 55:8-9)
As far as I can tell, that TRUST I attempt to live in is an outcropping of my faith. You might say
that trust is my faith in action and I am making a withdrawal from my “banked faith.”
So how can uprooting – death – or weeping possibly become beautiful? I guess a farmer would
tell me that unless I uproot the old crop, a new crop will not be able to grow and flourish.
Unless a seed dies, the new plant cannot be born, and that we often weep when saying good-by
to that which we loved and was familiar. But, truthfully, unless we are willing to say, “good-
by”, we cannot make room for the NEW THING God wants to do in our lives. (Isa 43:19)
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; do you not perceive it?…”
Did I actually want to send my children off to kindergarten or college? NO! But in my
willingness to weep and allow those seasons to change – I can now look at what the Lord has
done in their lives!
In my willingness to weep and let go of a profession I absolutely loved, the Lord birthed a
ministry that has literally saved many lives and impacted the lives of thousands.
The Lord has blessed me with the joy of seeing some of the results of my willingness to
embrace new seasons – hard as it was – but I know that is not always the case. Some results,
i.e. the “beauty,” many of us will not see on this side of eternity. (Heb. 11:13)
But this we absolutely know: “God is not a man that He would lie; nor the son of man that He
would change His mind.” (Num. 23:19)
Like me, you may need to learn to grow your trust. The only way to do that is by increasing
one’s faith – and the best way to do that is by dwelling in God’s Word and reminding ourselves
of His faithfulness in the past. Truly, this develops and attitude of gratitude which helps us
embrace the change of seasons in our life. My friends, God says, “Everything is beautiful in its
time.” Going forward with that expectation makes our willingness to move through those
changes so much easier. I encourage you to give it a try.
