What Time is It?

  I want to talk to you today about seasons.  Our whole earth runs on patterns:  spring time, summer time, fall and winter.  We have seasons of planting, nurturing, and harvesting.  Our society runs on cultural seasons, Christmas, New Year's, Easter, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and multiple other holidays which mean the anticipation of family rituals, personal memories, or vacations from work.  Everything in life runs on a cycle of ebb and flow.  In fact, in the book of Ecclesiastes, we find that, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
  I think sometimes though, the mistake we tend to make as human beings is to assume that whatever season we are in right now is permanent.  We allow our circumstances to own us, and we start to create patterns and cycles of negative, rather than the natural rhythm of life we were designed for.  Just because you are in a difficult season right now does not mean you will have difficulties for the rest of your life.  See things for what they are.  Realize that each challenge and setback is merely a season, and if you keep moving, you will come to the next phase.  Don't get so caught up in the storms of this moment that you forget there is another cycle to come.  You may be in winter now, but spring is just around the corner.  Be brave; hold on;  the times are changing.  Hold on the knowledge that good things are coming.
  Conversely, some people have a sense of fear when good times roll around.  They are afraid they don't deserve happiness, or that something is just waiting to destroy the good the moment they start to enjoy it.  I want to tell you, first and foremost, that nothing could be further from the truth.  God is a God of love and blessings.  He created us to "have life and have it more abundantly."  (John 10:10)  If you are in a good season of life right now, enjoy it!  Savor it.  Celebrate the moments.  Save up the memories for the next time you are facing a struggle.  "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do."  (Ecclesiastes 9:7)  Don't be afraid to enjoy the good things in life you've been given.  We were made for seasons of celebration and for struggle, and when we learn to embrace that, the celebration after the struggle will be that much sweeter.  Not only that, but we will learn to look at each challenging phase in life as a stepping stone to another season of blessing and harvest.
  Whatever phase you're in, my prayer for you tonight is that you learn to live in each season for what it is.  Take the bad, but then move on to the good.  Celebrate the great, and prepare yourself for the difficult.  I'm celebrating with you!

~K.W.