Are You Out of Season? How to Trust God in Any Spiritual Season
Here in Virginia, we have 4 full seasons a year. It’s wonderful! I enjoy winter and especially the snow. My husband always said we fell in love in the snow. I also delight in spring when the earth wakes up after a long hibernation. And to be honest, I relish summer with its storms, billowy clouds and hot sizzling temperatures. But I guess my favorite season is autumn. There’s just something about the crackle of a fire, warm apple cider and the changing of the leaves that makes me feel all cozy.
We are in the midst of autumn right now and a few days ago I went out to cut back some of my shrubs. My snowball bush was the first on my list. She had been beautiful this summer with her brilliant blue blooms, but the recent frost had caused her leaves to shrivel and blooms to turn dark brown.
As I knelt down to cut the stems at ground level, to my surprise, I saw a honey bee staggering on the once beautiful blooms! I am no bee expert, but I don’t think they are normally out and about on chilly November mornings. Certainly not trying to get nectar from a dead bush anyway!
Made me think of myself. How many times have I been ‘out of season’ with what I am trying to accomplish? I’ve got to ask…do you ever get ahead of God?
When we get ahead of God…
I have recently retired from a small country church where I was pastor for 13 years. In the past weeks, I have decided the best thing for me to do was move back to my hometown. After all, 2 of my 3 children live there, so does my sister, and I was convinced it was where God wanted me to be.
However, every plan I made, including applications at apartments for older adults, fell through! Either the apartments were way too small or they came furnished (where am I to put all this stuff I have accumulated over the years?) or there was a 6-month waiting list!
I was so sure my plan was exactly what God wanted me to do. Why wouldn’t He want me home? He knows that’s where my heart is, so what could possibly be the problem?
Here’s the problem…
I was trying to force my plans on God. I was trying to put a round peg in a square hole and no matter what I tried to do, it was not
going to work. I had gotten in God’s way and things had gone awry. I was trying to do something in the wrong season!
Psalm 27:14
Wait patiently for the Lord;
Be brave and courageous;
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
But who likes being patient? Especially as we get older! Don’t we already have to exercise our patience for making Dr. appointments and waiting for the grandkids to call and for someone at Medicare to please answer the phone!!! I know you get the picture!
Well, after a lot of tears and many prayers, I realized God would open a door when the season was right for me to move home. I just needed to be patient.
Our walk with God is about seasons and understanding that there is a time for us to act and there is a time for us to be still.
In the meantime, I have taken a deep breath, and decided to be still, realizing I am where I am supposed to be in this season. Not only that, but I’ve come to understand this time of waiting has increased my trust in God. It’s all a part of the faith-building process!
Last, but not least, it gives me the chance to exercise my hope. Hope is our reminder that better things are just around the corner! It allows me to wake up every morning knowing God is in control of every minute of my day!
Have you gotten ahead of God? Or are you being still, waiting on His timing?
Oh yea…as for the poor honey bee…he fell to the ground and I left him there hoping he’d find his way back to where he’s supposed to be…the hive.
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1