There is a season for everything...

We constantly live in a world of transition. Whether you are preparing to enter elementary school, middle school, high school, college, master's or the working world. Some are getting married, are married, or worse having kids??!!! (Just kidding-sort of) It seems like we are constantly moving from one chapter of life to the next. Some of us are very excited about starting new chapters in our lives while others wish for the good old days. I felt that transition when I graduated college. I spent 3 years getting to know people, knowing where everything was, and being involved in off campus activities only to leave it all and start something completely different and new. The realization is and was then that college is but a season in my life, a good season, but a season nonetheless. Whatever your going through, season's will change.
Let's take a look at the book of Ecclesiastes.
In this book, the "Teacher" who we assumed to be King Solomon, is reflecting back on his life. That has been on eof the primary themes of this book. Old Solomon looking back on his life, and realizing the emptiness for which man chases after (meaningless things-toil, success, money women, life without God). In chapter 3, he begins speaking of the fact that there is a time for everything.

Let's examine it:
"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven."

1. There is a predetermined season for everything...

Solomon points out that man is bound by time, and that all seaons are predetermined by God. He illustrates this with a cyclical time pattern of the behavior in life. Well what does that mean? If we continue past this verse it describes all aspects of life: birth, death, planting, uprooting, weeping, laughing, etc... They come and go, enter and leave our lives. College was that for me. Everything has a beginning, and an end. That is the nature of things on earth isn't it?

2. A fixed time for every activity...
Like the seasons in nature: fall winter, spring and summer.......life is broken up into fixed seasons or time periods. They are periods of time where there eventually is a transition into another season or period of life. Anyone who has been on this earth long enough can tell you this. I am constantly taught and shown this at my church, where a lot of our congregants are in the 70's and 80's.
Solomon speaks specifically: birth ( a fixed time to be born) and death ( a fixed time to die) and the rest of the activities he mentions all have fixed points. What does that mean to us? Well first as mentioned earlier seasons are fixed. Never are our seasons eternal. For example I love the camp counselors I worked with in 2003 and never wanted it to end. The reality is that season had to end, I couldn't be with that same group, at that same camp for the rest of my life. That time period was used specifically to show me and affirm my call to ministry. It was one of many seasons to illustrate that.

3. The meaning of seasons...
Lastly, I think once we understand the meaning of seasons or periods or chapters (whatever you wish to call it) in our lives it becomes much clearer of what seasons mean. At several seasons, I learned a lot about myself, others around me, and even biblical concepts like grace, compassion, mercy, patience and justice. I also think based off of the Old Testament and New Testament, seasons are meant to teach us of our dependency on Jesus Christ as our Source for all things. It would be easy me to want to be in a utopia season, yet I tend to forget Christ in those times. And even during difficult seasons, I am reminded that I need Christ and can't put so much my dependency toward my friends, or relatives or other people who need the exact same thing.

I have always been fascinated by the thought of life being like seasons. I'm not that old but I have experienced several already. With friendships, with leaving home, having new opportunities in ministry, with learning new things about myself, and even getting outside of my comfort zone to embrace a new season. At the same time, I try not to neglect the joy that I can have in every season. I think it is too easy to dismiss a season that I do not enjoy

In the end, seasons are good for our growth, as people, and most importantly followers of Christ. Maybe you are currently in a season, or transitioning out of a season, or entering a new season. The most important element with new seasons of life, and current ones is to always remember that our great God and Savior Jesus Christ is the constant (immutable=unchanging God) through all of our life's seasons.

Be Blessed