Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Navigating Seasons of Life From The Bible | Ecclesiastes 3
If you know me well, then you certainly know that i possess a handful of pet peeves. By handful, I mean enough pet peeves to fill a football stadium twice. From mispronouncing words like realtor (re-la-tor) and niche (ni-tch) to creating new words such as irregardless (even though technically it is a word), there are a lot of little things that bother me. Another of these pet peeves of mine is when Christians throw around the word “season” all the time. You know what I’m talking about. “I’m just in a growth season” right now. Or, “It’s not my season yet”. Or, my favorite, “my season of life doesn’t call me to that”. It’s become quite the fallback for excuses to be lazy or why things aren’t going well for us. However, when we look at seasons of life in the Bible, we see that seasons come and go. There are hard seasons, easy seasons, grieving seasons, seasons of joy and so many more.
Ecclesiastes 3
I don’t know a single person that doesn’t experience a change of seasons almost weekly. The word of God reveals this to us through King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3. The book of Ecclesiastes provides a list of seasons that we all go through. Every single one of us experiences these seasons throughout our lives. Not one single person is immune from encountering each of these seasons.
For everything[a] there is an appointed time,[b]
and an appropriate time[c] for every activity[d] on earth:[e]
2 A time to be born,[f] and a time to die;[g]
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
5 A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to search, and a time to give something up as lost;[h]
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to rip, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.
8 A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What is a Season?
A “season” typically refers to one of the four divisions of the year—spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter—marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours. However, in various contexts, “season” can also refer to a period characterized by a particular activity, event, or phenomenon, such as hunting season, holiday season, or the season of a particular sports league. Further, seasons may also refer to periods of time we experience throughout our lives. A dry season. New season. Difficult season. Seasons of joy. Seasons of transition. Waiting season. Productive season. The thing we have to understand about seasons is that there’s always the next season coming. Whether we’re in a season of immense blessing at work or we’re enduring a season of difficulty, the next season is always right around the corner
God’s word makes it very clear that our Heavenly Father has a purpose and a plan for each of our lives. However, God designs seasons for our growth. How many times do we just try and get to the next season of life rather than understanding that the current season brings about new growth we otherwise would not have experienced?
I want to explain how the four seasons – Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall – is a fantastic example of the seasons in our lives.
Winter
Winter is the time of the year when temperatures drop, snow falls and we throw coats, mittens and snow shoes on just in order to stay warm. In certain parts of the world, winter invokes harsh temperatures that require us to remain indoors for the the duration of the season. Winter also is a time of immense joy for those of us that live in the South, attempting to stay away from the searing temperatures of summer. Further, winter provides an opportunity to gather by the fire and drink decaf coffee while reading a book on a Sunday afternoon.
Some people endure winter as a tough season while others thrive. The first month of the year is a month in which numerous people around the world begin a new season of health and fitness. January 1st, or January 2nd for most, is the day that they choose to “finally get fit”. Often, to no avail, unfortunately. The human heart longs for change in so many areas, particularly around the the beginning of a new season. When the grass is brown and the sun teases us, our spirits drop. Winter can be an exceptionally challenging season.
Spiritual Warfare Season
Similar to winter, we endure seasons of immense spiritual warfare. At various times, we encounter all sorts of obstacles to our spiritual growth. As Ecclesiastes states, this may be a time to heal, break down, mourn or weep. This is one of the seasons of our lives that we simply must endure and push through to the next season.
When we lived in Colorado, we had an elongated season of spiritual warfare due in large part to a flailing business that we had put our hopes and dreams into. Hard times create tough people, right? While this may true, it certainly did not feel this way in the midst of this season of immense warfare our family battled day in and day out. It wasn’t until God’s love was truly understood that we realized the good fruit that would come from battling through this season. That is the key to enduring seasons like this. When your back is against the wall and you feel as if there is no escape, the presence of the Lord provides “streams of water” and the “shield of faith” to protect against unwanted spiritual attacks.
Spring
As winter subsides and the seasons of life change, we anticipate the spring season in which flowers bloom, the warmth of the sun presses firmly against our skin and new life is born. Spring brings forth new growth from dormant plants and the hibernating animals awaken from their winter slumber. Saturday mornings are filled with outdoor preparations and the smell of freshly cut grass. It’s almost as if we anticipate a new thing yet to be done.
Spring also brings about a renewed sense of hope and joy for what is to come. Why is this? It’s because we’ve endured the harshness of winter and have made it to other side. The same principle applies to our lives. Spring may be the first time your kids have gotten to play outside in weeks or months. Spending time outdoors seeking the various adventures in front of us allows us to experience the beauty of nature, the part of God we often take for granted.
Season of New Seeds
Spring is often recognized as the favorite season of many people. Spring is often a season of our life when new growth occurs and seeds are planted. Sometimes, Spring provides a season of rest after the harsh winter. Other times, Spring produces the proper time for hard work. Regardless of what life experience Spring brings, this seasons brings newness and growth. While this may look different depending on our different seasons of life, this is often a season where we see the power of the Holy Spirit on display. Whether we are called to accept a new job, move to a new city or follow God’s call in a specific way, this season produces the seeds that are necessary for an upcoming harvest.
I’m reminded of the Spring of 2021, the months leading up to our transition into freedom and adventure. March – May were filled with late nights and early morning preparing our home to be sold. Time was limited and our energy even more so. However, we knew that the reason for which we were enduring brought a natural sense of joy in the midst of extremely hard work. This was a period of time when “new” was surrounding us. New seeds of adventure were being planted. The harvest could only be experienced if the proper seeds were planted. This was our literal spring season as well as our spiritual spring season.
Summer
Summer is a favorite season for most people because school is out, pools are open and vacations are plentiful. The summer months provide late mornings, long bike rides and neighborhood kids taking over the block. Summer is a time in which the harvest, of sorts, is realized. We work hard during the fall, winter and spring seasons in order to experience a few months of play and fun. In other ways, summer is also one of those spiritual seasons where we experience “rivers of water” flowing around us. While we tend to focus on the hard seasons often, it is in these good seasons that we experience God’s plan come to fruition. Whether in our day to day life or our spiritual life, summer provides the harvest of that new creation we created in the spring.
The “Ohhhh” Moment
The summer season, spiritually speaking, reminds me of so many times in life when I couldn’t understand the purpose or reason behind something only to be shown in due time that I just simply lacked the proper knowledge or perspective to understand what was happening. You can read the story of how Celeste and I’s relationship got started in this post. If you just want a primer, it did not start well….for 2 years. However, had I known exactly what God was doing, I would not have been to experience that “Oh, that makes sense” moment. To me, that’s kind of how this summer season is. We realize the work that God has been doing all along. Whether we call this a harvest or something different, we are reaping the benefits of trust and hope for what the Lord has done.
Fall
Then there’s Fall. Fall is a season when temperatures begin to change again. We begin with the end of season before preparing for the beginning of winter. Fall is a season in which the best sports begin, school starts and the holiday sights and smells overwhelm our senses. Fall is often the perfect gift in that it brings pleasant experiences community and celebration. As daylight begins to dissipate in the later weeks of the Fall season, we slowly begin anticipating the harshness of winter.
While enjoying the remaining warmth of the season, we know what is waiting for us around the corner. So, for this reason, we squeeze as much as we possibly can out of Fall. This is similar to our daily lives in that we often believe there is something around the corner waiting for us. We believe it is our “due season” after a period of harvest. Much like Fall, we believe that our winter is coming to steal, kill and destroy so we cling to the hope that our current season provides while while waiting, in fear, for what is to come.
A Season of Anticipation
I remember one season in my life in which I was dreading the next season. I couldn’t help but wonder when the other shoe was going to fall. After all, I had been enjoying a pretty good season of abundance, blessing, and joy. Things were going really well! However, I was inundated with thoughts that things were going to even out eventually. My prayer request during this season was that I would have strength to endure that battles that were awaiting my. The funny thing is that I never experienced this “unprecedented season” of pain and hardship.
Yes, I encountered many obstacles and had to endure. There were problems I had to deal with, but they were nothing like I was expecting. That’s the thing about different season. They aren’t like for like. We don’t experience an extremely harsh winter then experience and extremely plentiful spring on a 1 for 1 scale. When we are aligned with Christ Jesus, the life seasons we experience feel much more like spring and summer far more often that fall or winter.
About the Author
John Claborn
Hi! I’m John. Author of the post you just read. I like to write about all things adventure. Mostly things to help people live more adventurous lives and care for their families in a more meaningful way. By day, I’m a COO. By night, I’m a rad dad of 4 kids that I don’t deserve and a husband to a woman I can’t understand how I got. My goal is to show freedom to people through adventure and experiences.
