To everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn, turn)… I know the song better than the Scripture, but the fact remains, time keeps on moving on. The pages on the calendar keep changing, rapidly becoming out of date. Summer is drawing to a close—this crazy, hectic summer—and most people’s schedules are starting to ramp up for fall. I know it’s still July, but my son returns to school on August 12, so that’s not very far away.
In Ecclesiastes 3, it says:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Some of our seasons are literal—the leaves changing color or the temperatures rising or the snow falling. But some are more abstract, even as they affect us more profoundly. I’m in a season of creating. At the same time, this is a season of changes for me—releasing and learning to promote my book, doing some speaking, and now cutting back on work, focusing on writing the next one, moving my two daughters to new colleges next month, and having my son enter high school.
Whatever kind of season you’re in, no matter how hard it might be, don’t despair. There’s a time for everything. And the fact that each of these is a season should bring hope—there will be an end to it. I realize that, if you’re facing something like a child leaving home, or a parent dying, you’re dreading the change of seasons. But I find it comforting to know that time keeps on passing, and relationships and trials and challenges and emotions ebb and flow. If I’m down, there will be an up. I just have to hold on and wait for it to come.
What season are you in? How do you feel about it? Is it a comfort to know things will continue to change, or does that freak you out?
Speaking of time, the August prayer prompt calendar is now available—always free to blog subscribers. You can go here to download or click on the Products page of my website to see all of them. Here’s the low-res preview to tempt you:
