The coming of Spring reminds us that seasons are inevitable. We can’t stop the revolution of the sun, nor can we escape the seasons of life. Here’s a look at what these seasons are like as we face them in our personal circumstance:
Spring is the season of life to create and clean up.
Spring is a time to birth a new idea or plant something new, so it can be nourished and grow. Spring is also when we bring new life to something old. We know we’re in the season of spring when we’re optimistic and seek opportunities to learn, experiment and create. We anticipate better days to come and see a variety of possibilities. This is when we do our “Spring Cleaning” to freshen up our lives. So, this is the season to get organized and clear out all our junk.
Summer is a vibrant season of life full of joy and activity.
Seasons of summer are when we feel energized, excited and enthusiastic. We jump into new things with confidence and strength. During the summer, we’re the most visible. People see us more because we’re carefree, curious, active and involved.
Fall is when we center ourselves.
After a season of robust activity, there’s a time to settle down, represented by the season of fall. This is typically the season when we prepare for hardship. Often, we don’t even know that the hardship is coming, but God uses this season in our life to prepare us for the difficulty we’re going to face. During this season, we become more pessimistic, and start feeling dull or dreary. Our motivation decreases. This is the season where negative thoughts tend to seep into our minds.
Winter is the season of life for letting go.
There’s a time to die to our shortcomings. There’s a time to give up on the things we’ve strived hard to achieve but haven’t mastered. There’s a time to embrace who we are and what God is doing in our lives. Winter is the time to weep and mourn our failures or hardships. The winter season is when we become reflective, focused and tend to internalize life’s battles. Winter is typically the season that God teaches us something new, so we can grow and move back into the season of spring. This new awareness leads to a sense of purpose or passion.
There is a time for everything.
God says that there’s a time for everything, and His time is more glorious than ours.
There is a time for everything, 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.(Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8)
There’s a cycle to seasons, they consistently come in the same order. However, what you may be experiencing in life may not correlate with nature’s season. For example, you may be experiencing winter in life when the actual season is summer. Or, you may be experiencing winter in one area of life while the rest of your world is in Spring. This can sometimes make life frustrating. But, all seasons of life are necessary. You shouldn’t try to skip over one or rush through it either. Some seasons in life will last longer than others. You will like some seasons more than others, but you still need to proceed through each one according to what God is teaching you and how He’s guiding you.
As your emotions and countenance change, take note of what season you’re moving into. Journal about what led you into different seasons of life, what you hope to learn and how you want to transition out.
Seasonal Relationships:
It’s good to have a variety of personalities to support you through each season.
For example, have people who are fun and playful around in a summer season of life. But in the fall, you’ll need support that they can’t provide because they may want you to pretend like everything’s okay when obviously it’s not! It isn’t healthy to stuff your feelings.
People who internalize things are great resources when you’re reflecting on what God’s doing in your life. But, know when you need to reach out to a different set of friends because it’s not healthy to linger if God is moving you forward.
Some relationships can be seasonal, while others will last the test of time – supporting you through life’s rhythms.
