Faithful Through the Seasons

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3

1 There is an appointed time for everything,

and a time for every affair under the heavens.

2 A time to give birth, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to tear down, and a time to build.

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

5 A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;

a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.

6 A time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

8 A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

Seasons

Quintus: “People should know when they’re conquered.”

Maximus: “Would you, Quintus? Would I?”

From the movie, Gladiator

In Indiana, the seasons are easy to see. The long, hot, days of summer shorten to the cloudy, cool, moody days of Autumn. The falling leaves of Autumn give way to the truly cold, snowy, icy, days of winter. Winter chills us for a while and retreats before the warming of spring and the new life it brings in the color of the leaves returning and flowers blooming. We see it. We feel it. There is no missing it.

Some seasons are harder to see. How do we know what season we are in? Which affair under heaven are we assigned to today? A friend recently described someone he knew who had achieved massive success, retired, and then decided to jump back into a new venture. “Why?” he asked, “That season has passed.”

In another recent conversation, I overheard a woman describe her husband as being “forced into early retirement.” “He would have been much more at peace with it if it had been on his terms.” I suppose that’s the way it is for all of us: we’ll find more peace in our season if it’s on our terms. The truth is, we’d prefer to dictate all of our seasons.

Where We’re Supposed to Be

At the turn of the year, the time when kings go to war, David sent out Joab along with his officers and all Israel, and they laid waste the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. David himself remained in Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 11:1

For those familiar with David’s story, you know that the scripture passage above precedes King David’s dark choices concerning Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. In this season, David should have been off to war with his officers and staying behind led to his greatest mistakes. My friend’s earlier comment about the man jumping-into a new venture wasn’t a criticism of the venture, the man’s desire to engage, or a mean-spirited ageism. His was an observation on the season in which that man found himself and his desire to return to another season.

Where are we supposed to be? How do we know? The signs are there if we’re willing to see or listen.

Almost 24 years ago, we returned to Indianapolis after a few years in the Chicago area. Sally’s grandmother died on the same day that our youngest daughter was born; it was time to go home. I spent the next five years fighting to get myself into the job and income that I felt was needed to support our family. I say “fighting” because it was a series of one-year positions that all ended with me on the outside, grasping and gasping.

My season had changed and I couldn’t see it. The truth is that I knew my season had changed but it wasn’t the change that I wanted or thought that I wanted. Wherever I was, it wasn’t on my terms.

Would you, Quintus? Would I?

Most of us are pretty clear on the fact that we’re not controlling the seasons. Spring, summer, fall, and winter, come and go whether we’re ready or not and no amount of science, complaint, crying, or gnashing of our teeth is going to change them. We move with and through them. We can choose to wear our shorts in winter, leave our umbrella behind in spring, or put on ice skates in summer and those choices will affect how we experience each season.

There is a time and a place to every purpose.

Faithful Through the Seasons

This season is passing. You can fight it or you can embrace it. You can lament it or you can celebrate it. You can endure it or you can learn from it. You will likely find yourself doing all of the above.

The big question is, can you remain true to yourself and those around you in its passing? Can you look beyond this moment knowing the next will come? Will you see the truth of your life, acknowledge it, and keep walking faithfully?

The beautiful thing about seasons is that they take us to where we are supposed to be. They aren’t resistance to be fought but flow to be embraced. Each brings its gifts, its sorrows, and its lessons. They aren’t something to be conquered or controlled, they are something to be lived.