Learning to Navigate the Seasons of Life

When faced with a grievous, frustrating or intensely complex dilemma, some have a tendency to look up and cry, “Lord, is this some kind of test you're putting me through? Well if it is, I’m failing it…big time!” Unfortunately, this attitude comes from trying to blame someone else for our difficulties. However, most of what we go through is…well…it’s just life! There are ups and downs, good times and bad, and encouraging as well as exasperating times. Here are some of the seasons we all experience:

♦ Childhood and Teenage Years—the formative yet horrifically turbulent years that determine how we view life. (But as teenagers, we had no idea it was harder on our parents than it was on us!)

♦ Young Adult Life—the independent years during which we forge out our careers and futures.

♦ Marriage and Child Raising—joyful, stressful, fulfilling, frustrating and tender can be frequent descriptions of this season.

♦ Middle Age—we can be consumed by careers, re-evaluating life, preparing for the future, aging parents and some of us even try to re-capture our youth. (Now that’s an exercise in futility!)

♦ Later Years—reflecting on life, grieving over the loss of loved ones, focusing on the next generation, making certain life is lived well and leaving a good legacy for others to follow.

So…does God deliberately run you through a meat grinder just to test you? No, that’s not His character. However, a Biblical definition can totally change how you view life. A season means “an appointed time, place or meeting.” It can also mean “an opportune time when things waited for are brought to a decision point.” With this insight, here are some conclusions on how to navigate the Seasons of Life:

1. God is constantly aware of you. A season may be months, years or even decades. It defines personal life-events and the role you play in the lives of others. But don’t think you’re alone! Through every season, God is as close to you as your heartbeat. (Ps. 139:1-13; 37:25)

2. Seasons can bring the best or the worst out of you. In Charles Dickens epoch novel, “A Tale of Two Cities,” he began with these stirring words: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” Likewise, you are the main character in your own epoch drama. Make a decision to respond nobly for the sake of others rather than to react selfishly!

3. Seasons have beginnings and they come to an end. A common mistake is to assume a season is forever. Whether it’s an illness, loss of a career or the agony of a divorce…it will end! And even pleasant seasons will transition to different ones. So, take them all in stride. As I’ve said before, learn from Paul as he wrote from prison. He knew how to handle seasons (Philip. 4:4-13).

4. Your season is an Opportune Time to meet with God. Regardless of your season, God knew it was coming and graciously makes an Appointment to Meet with you there. Those intimate times are the most precious moments of your life. He who created you loves you intensely and is able to comfort you like no one on earth (Is. 43:1-3). And in that appointment with God, He sets an appointment for you to bring the comfort of His love to others (2 Cor. 1:3-7).

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