“Four Seasons – Longbridge Road” by joiseyshowaa is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted: A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (selected)
For everything and everyone comes a moment, a period of time to experience the changes and transitions that are a part of life. It’s strange how comforting these words can be. Rarely do I seek these verses in times of laughing, dancing, or peace. However, I find myself grasping for this wisdom when change is sudden, shifting, and challenging. It’s comforting to know that others have crossed these same life thresholds. I am not the first and certainly not the last to find myself entering a new season of life.
Yet, I imagine if we had our way, many of us would choose to keep things the way it was when everything was going well, before our health took a turn, before that relationship turned sour, before we moved to a new location. Likewise, we may want to fast forward to a time when the kids are self-sufficient, when we can retire from work, when all of our loans are paid in full. We long for a past that will never be and a future that will come in its time or not at all. Unfortunately, both ignore the reality of life, and that is we live in the now, in this season or between seasons.
I invite you to reflect on what season you are in at this moment? Are you finding it easy to accept it or do you long for the past or a future? What is most challenging about this season? What gifts or unexpected blessings have you experienced? Who are the ones that walk with you, who have been walking with you through many life seasons? Who is with you right now?
The teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes offers this piece of wisdom later on in that same chapter, “God has made everything and everyone suitable for its time. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” No matter where you are on life’s journey, God makes a way for you to experience happiness, joy, and pleasure. I believe when we are still, and know God is God, we can experience shalom in any change life throws our way.
In October our worship theme is Embracing the Journey, as we explore stories in scripture where people found themselves in the midst of change and how God accompanied them into a new season of life. We will hear Sarah laugh. We will listen to the disciples receive instruction to go out. We will take a carriage with Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. We will sit in the belly of the fish with Jonah as he attempts to escape God’s plan for him.
