Our Four Seasons

Just like there are four seasons that come and go every year like clockwork, there are four seasons in each one of our lives also. There is Summer, where everything seems to be falling in place and things are going smoothly. Then there is Fall, where although there are still good times, there are things that seem to be falling apart in some areas of our lives. Winter is right around the corner, and this could be the season where it seems like life has slowed down, it feels cold and uncomfortable, some of our hopes and dreams seem to have died or are slowly dying in front of us and things don’t seem to be going in the right direction. Thankfully, Spring is right around the corner and before you know it, things start looking up again. The future looks more promising and wonderful, new opportunities are coming our way.

As I write this, I am between Winter and Spring. I enjoy the actual season of Winter along with the occasional snow and cooler temperatures. In fact, it is my second favorite season, Fall time being my favorite. However, when my life is in its winter season, it is harder to enjoy and I have to continuously re-change my focus back on God and His plan for my life, specifically, back on the promise He has given me for the past two years in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV) My hopes and dreams seem to be on hold, not going anywhere, try as I might to do everything I can to take them in the right direction. I am seriously under-employed, took a huge pay cut, working hard to get my new book off the ground and a new ministry started and it seems to be going nowhere, except to a dead end street. I have bathed everything in prayer and I know that God is still in control and have dedicated all of these things to Him, trying hard to trust Him with the ultimate outcome, though things look bleak.

However, I also realize I am in this season of Winter and this too will pass and Spring will come! As soon as I feel discouragement take hold, I have to purposely choose to put my focus back on God’s plan for my life and know that He is still God and that He is STILL good. I may not like where I am at in this particular season, but I have also learned some great lessons through it and believe that in some way, God is preparing me for the next season in my life through what I am facing now. He will, because of his faithfulness and because of the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 that He has given me personally, see that this time is not wasted, although to me it seems like I am at a standstill and nothing seems to be happening.

My “spiritual eyes and ears” see and hear that this time of rest by working less hours (though it makes things very difficult financially), I am able to step back, rest and take life more slowly, savoring each small happening as it comes my way. My health started declining almost four years ago, and had I kept at the pace I was going at that time (with three part time jobs, two of them very demanding), I would have crashed and burned. But God had better plans for me than that. Although I would NOT have chosen to have my hours cut by 12-14 hours a week along with a generous pay cut, God has used that route to get me to a place to slow down and rest my body, which has been very important in the process to heal my body and mind. He knows that my schedule combined with the big health changes I have faced in the past three to four years were a bad combination and I am thankful He did not let me go down THAT route instead!

It is important to remain mindful that all of our seasons are temporary and God is using each one to fit into a bigger puzzle, or mosaic, to keep our lives on the right course. Instead of seeing the down sides of what we are facing right now, we need to purposely and consciously (which is very difficult sometimes!) say to ourselves, “Maybe God is doing this or that right now to prepare me for something.” For me, I am a list maker and I make a mental list of things from different perspectives. For example, although I have been looking for almost a year for a better job or even a second job, praying a lot about it and doing everything I know to do to get me into a better job situation, instead of saying “I hate this situation and nothing is happening despite my prayers, the prayers of my family, friends and church, and I am miserable because I need something more than this and can’t wait to get out of this underemployed, underpaid position (which comes naturally & I have to fight it),” I choose to say instead, “Relax. God will bring the right job along in His timing. He knows my needs and has provided every need in this season. Maybe God has me in this season so that my body can continue to heal and so I can learn how to slow down and place my focus on more important things than an overly busy schedule.”

Although I admit that this season is a difficult one, I am also learning through it. I am becoming a person whose faith is growing more solid as I wait on Him instead of hurrying Him, and I am trusting Him more through this instead of asking why this is so hard. Although I cannot see it, my Spring will come and when it does, I will be rejoicing as I look back and see how, once again, God brought me through it, better and stronger than before and that my Winter does not last forever, because Spring always follows! J