I was brought up in Maine, a state that offers four distinct seasons. While talking with a person who visited this state recently for the first time, I was told he was thinking about relocating to Bar Harbor, Maine. My council to him was simple. Don’t make any decisions until you have experienced all the seasons. Each one is totally different than the ones we experience here in Hanford.
I have my favorite season and possibly you do as well. God, however, is the creator of every season and there’s something positive about each one. Maybe he gave four seasons for our pleasure or possibly to afford us some variety. But one thing is sure, He uses each season of our lives to develop character and make us more like him.
“But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be people who are perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.” —JAMES 1:4
James encourages us to patiently walk through every season of life. Don’t be in a hurry to move on. Enjoy and even endure if necessary where you are currently planted because God is at work in you! When you are working on something - That something is working on you!
Things happen in “Due Season.” Note, It’s God’s season, not ours. We are in a hurry; God isn’t. He takes time to do things right—He lays a solid foundation before He attempts to build a building and we are God’s building under construction. He is the Master Builder, and He knows what He is doing. We may not know what’s happening, but He does, and that will have to be good enough.
Some seasons are more difficult than others but all seasons are significant and play an important role in our overall development. Paul tells us: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time (in due season) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
In order to bring forth fruit you will need to plant, cultivate, water and work. Some blood, sweat and tears will be required. These seasons are not necessarily fun or as glamorous as the fruit-bearing season but without them, there will be NO fruit.
David gives a promise to those who put God first and choose to follow him closely in every season of their lives. “They will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit ‘in season’ and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he or she does prospers.” Psalms 1:3
What season of life are you in right now? Is it a season of new beginnings? Exhausting labor? Great difficulty? Tremendous fruitfulness? Abundant Joy? Whatever season of life defines your current situation, one fact remains true. A new season is on the horizon!
Learn to relax in the current season. Even as you change from sweaters to short sleeve shirts for the summer heat, adjust your thinking to enjoy your present circumstances.
Rather than asking God to deliver you ‘from’ the season, ask him to deliver ‘to’ you the necessary tools to make this season fruitful. If you do, you will Bloom Where You Are Planted.
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