Seasons of Life

 

Today, I attended our church's women's retreat, "Gather Together". The theme was Women in Every Season.
"There is a time for everything, and 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)

The speaker, Patti Pedersen talked about four different seasons we women go through: Summer (A Season for Reward, Celebration, and Fulfillment), Autumn/Fall (A Season of Survival, Mistakes, and Problems), Winter (A Season for Reflection, Hibernation, and Planning), and Spring (A Season for Learning, Opportunity, and Dynamic Thinking). She shared how God helped her through all the seasons, including her family's adoption process. Through all seasons of our life, God's presence makes all the difference and we witness God's grace in action. Even when it's a season of trials and sufferings, that time/experience can be used for learning, growing, and character-developing. The thing that stood out most to me from today's message is that the Bible often says, "It came to pass" not "to stay". Trials and troubles come but they will eventually pass. So do successes and pleasures. Nothing is permanent in this life. Only God and His Word remain unchanged.

"We are all either in a crisis, coming to one, or coming out of one." (Andy Andrews)

Today's message made me think of the book, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life by Charles Swindoll. When we focus on and rely on God and His Word, we see that He carries us, guides us, strengthens us, and helps us grow closer to Him through every season of our lives.

"As each three-month segment of every year holds its own mysteries and plays its own melodies, offering sights and smells, feelings and fantasies altogether distinct, so it is in the seasons of life... Seasons are designed to deepen us, to instruct us in the wisdom and ways of our God... Let's not fear the winds of adversity! The gnarled old twisted tress, beaten and buffeted by wind and weather along the ocean shores, tell their own stories of consistent courage... Roots grow deep when the winds are strong... Deeper roots make for stronger lives." (Charles Swindoll)

What season of life are you in? Are you experiencing a winter of discouragement, disappointment, depression, loneliness, sorrow, or grief? Or are you enjoying a spring of renewal, exciting news, new beginnings, or a warm summer of rest, contentment, and celebration? Perhaps you're going through an autumn of confusion, uncertainties, and reflection. I interpret the seasons of life a little different than Patti :). No matter what seasons of life you're in, remember that God is with you, God loves you, God cares about you, God is good all the time, and God is forever faithful. In short, God's got your back.

P.S. I won this glass plate/tray in a raffle ticket drawing during the retreat. This verse is one of my favorites! #thankfulandblessed