Seasons Change and So Must We.

I’ve been thinking a lot about seasons and how they affect our lives. It’s hard for me to picture living somewhere in the world where there are not 4 seasons. I live in Canada and each season has a distinct and unique effect on us, as well as blessings and challenges.

As the seasons come, we are reminded to be prepared for the new season and let go of the old. How strange would it be to still be wearing the garments that kept us warm in the winter season, and wear them in the spring, or the summer!

There are lifestyle changes, clothing changes, even eating changes that happen with each season – more salads in the summer etc.

Today as I read Prov.10: 5 it struck me to ‘know the importance of the season you’re in’.

Seasons teach us many things – the passage of time for one!

Seasons teach us about ‘change’.

Some seasons signify longer nights… and shorter days of sunlight .

When we lived in Canada’s north, our daylight hours lessened and the night hours lengthened – often only 5.5 hrs of daylight in the winter. In the summer it was the opposite - the daylight lasted for up to 21 hours. In both cases there were things we did to prepare.

Seasons remind us that nothing stays the same.

So simple yet so wise!

If we go into a season hanging on the previous one, we can miss the benefits and blessings of what is the new reality in front of us. For some of us we get insecure about the changes that seasons bring. Some of us want the security of things remaining the same. Some of us fear that change brings a loss of control

I have a wonderful friend who is always able to look ahead to what’s coming. She’s that

person you see shopping for the next Christmas, when we just finished the Christmas we’re in! She’s always thinking and planning ahead. She scours all the clearance sales with a mind to what the next winter season will be, scooping up hats, mitts, toques, and scarves for 75% off. Her planning allows her to afford things she couldn’t buy at regular price. She knows the

season that’s ending and the season she’s in. She is one of those women that is always ahead of the seasons and planning. That means she’s always well prepared when the new season comes.

She knows the seasons.

The question is, ‘Do you?’

I know that often the idea of seasons is equated with farming, and while not everyone’s a

farmer, it’s an image that clearly speaks to us all. As we’re told in Ecclesiastes 3:1...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

But if we don’t know the season, it’s possible we will miss opportunities ( Prov10:5) .

Farmers know there is a time to get a field ready. Then there is planting, and watering that will lead to harvest. When the harvest is ready there’s a timing that is so important. All that preparation, planting and watering can seem mundane – not as glamorous or exciting as the harvest season! Problem is, while everyone likes the fruit of the harvest, not everyone wants the work that leads up to it.

Know the importance of the season you’re in and a wise son you will be. But what a waste when an incompetent son sleeps through his day of opportunity. Proverbs 10: 5.

While none of us like the idea of being compared to ‘an incompetent son’, rather than be

offended by the word, let’s look at why he’s called incompetent.

He sleeps through his day of opportunity.

So what season are you in? Do you know what opportunity is in front of you?

Are you sleeping through it because of fear?

Are you worn out?

Tired?

Keep walking.

Keep moving forward.

What does your current season require of you?

Something to think about…..

by Pam Dyck