Not long ago I was rejoicing at seeing the flowers blooming and birds returning that signals the start of springtime.It won’t be long now, till we officially reach summer with the hot days and muggy nights.And for those who are really big fans of summer, vacations and camping and boating and skiing and swimming and mosquitoes and sunburns….sorry, just can’t help myself I guess.It sounds like I don’t like summer, but that isn’t true.I actually enjoy all the seasons.My sister lives in the Pacific Northwest, and she claims her summer is about a week long.She also claims that she has missed the turning of the seasons over the years as she lived in southern California and now the Pacific Northwest.
As for me, I find each season has good things and not so good things, and it is up to us to decide which we want to focus our attention upon.My book titles, the whole Seasons of Divorce concept…is a simple recognition of the changes that come as one phase of the process passes and individuals move on into the next.The Finding God part of the title is that, as in life, God is always present for those who will look and seek him, but can easily be missed if we focus on the wrong things.
People have used the images of seasons to talk about life in general, with the springtime of youth and the autumn of later years.I wonder, in what ways are you experiencing some kind of “seasonal changes” in your life?It could be related to a relocation, to a job change, to the physical changes that come with aging, to the change in relationships as children mature, or in the area of personal growth and spiritual maturity.
How do you do at handling those changes?Life is full of them.In fact, it’s like the old saying:The only thing that never changes is that everything is always changing!Life is like that.The moments and experiences you have today are here for a season, only.Enjoy them now.Treasure them now.Find the good in them now.Find how God is using them now.Too often we long to be able to have once again one of the special time of our lives, to relive some special experiences.But we cannot.They were here for a season, and in this new season there is also always something special for those who seek it.The principle is true in the aftermath of divorce.After my divorce, I had a season in which I enjoyed the advantages of being single and free to use my time and resources as I chose.After that, I moved to the season of a second marriage, and have enjoyed all the wonderful experiences that have come with it.But you don’t have to go through divorce to know that the seasonality of life is always fleeting.I spent time with some good friends today, reminiscing about some special experiences we shared in our spiritual journeys.Those experiences, too, were for a season, though the impact is forever.
I simply want to challenge you to not spend so much time longing for the past, or hoping for the future, that you miss the joy God has for you in the present! And I want to remind you that so much of our lives is seasonal, fleeting and temporary. I encourage you to make sure that you are investing in those things that are eternal, and not merely the things that will fall away as time passes and as your life draws to a new season, or to its conclusion. There are lots of opportunities to Find God throughout whatever season your life is in right now. Don’t miss them!
