Everything on earth has its own time and its own season.
There is a time for birth and death, planting and reaping,
for killing and healing, destroying and building,
for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing,
for throwing stones and gathering stones, embracing and parting.
There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving,
for tearing and sewing, listening and speaking.
There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace.   Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (CEV)
I am starting a new ‘season’ in my life. I have had some seasons that were very harsh. There have been deserts when I have felt very alone. There have been sand storms and hurricanes when I felt battered and beaten up. I have also had seasons in deep woods or steep mountains when the path seemed hard to find and difficult to follow. And, thank You, Lord, I have seasons of sweet relief and restoration!
God is so very faithful to show us and confirm to us the path through various seasons of our lives. Here is where we can really see the work of the Good Shepherd who leads in His paths to teach and show us what we need to know and learn along the way. When I might think that what I am currently doing is a waste of my time and talent, God is faithful to remind me that time is His to use and my gifts are His to use and that nothing will be wasted!
God is also faithful to use people in each season. They could be there to teach us. They could be there to impart or sow some lessons, wisdom, in our life.  Maybe I am to learn about myself and people during this season. Maybe I am to learn more about God through others during this time.
And let us not forget that even in a desert season there is something to be learned. For me, the times in a desert are admittedly frustrating but also the time when I have been closest to God because there is an alone-ness and quiet that allows me to do little but listen for that “still, small voice. Jesus frequently would go out into the desert or up on a mountain to pray and spend time with the Father. So if you are in a isolated, quiet season…listen up! God is ready to speak if we will be quiet enough to listen!
Some of the seasons listed in Ecclesiastes are not seasons where we want to spend time.  I wish I could tell you a formula to avoid! I can’t. I believe all of the seasons can be experienced with God. Are we willing to take trigonometry and literature? Am I willing to experience the love of God in plenty as well as times of tearing down? Am I stuck in peace when war is needed to ‘clean the house’? Am I babbling through what God meant for a listening time??
Oh, Lord, check my heart and, in the power of Jesus and under the direction of your Holy Spirit, guide and direct all of my days so that the seasons of my life are pleasing to you. May I use the time wisely and not be distracted by good things that are not God things! Show me Your way, Lord, that I may walk with You through all the seasons of my life. Amen.
