Seasons

    With two grandchildren and another arriving in March of 2023 it is easy to pause, look around and say, “Where has the time gone?”   

It is no surprise that we will get older, and our lives will change with no effort on our part. It is natural and biblical for us to move through stages or seasons of life. We don’t have to like them, and we cannot stop them from coming. It is important that we accept the seasons of life and make the most of the season we are in.   

As children we can’t wait until we are old enough to go to school then we realize school is not just playing with friends, but we must do actual work. We look forward to being big enough to ride a bike without training wheels, to staying up past 9 pm. The list of things just out of our reach seems endless and once they are achieved our minds go to the next season of life we haven’t entered yet.   

The season of contentment arrives and passes before we realize it. Focus changes from what I will be able to do once I reach a certain age to the things, I am no longer able to do because of my age and limitations. As humans we seem to never be satisfied with the state we are in and always desiring to be in a season we are not.    Knowing God controls time and we will experience what we need to in His good time, let us be content in the season we have and spend that time squeezing every ounce of life out of it that we can for the glory of God.   

Too often we hear of the regrets people have as they reach the last seasons of life. “If I only had more time.” This is a common concern for many Christians. This should not be so. God has given us all the time we need; the problem is we are not seizing the moment that we are in. Opportunities are numerous and God is working now in our lives. Don’t wait for a better time but run today in the direction God has laid before you!   

Lucille Noland recently passed away and one of the last visits I made to her before she went home to the Lord, she made a profound statement. I was trying to encourage her about the joy and splendor of Heaven and in doing so referred to my glasses. I noted that in Heaven we will need no such aid, knowing her eyesight had faded over the last few years. She turned toward Scotty and I and said, “You better look while you can see.”   

Wow, what a powerful statement. She knew her days were few and that she was approaching the end of the last season of her life and wanted to impart one of the greatest observations she has made over her many years on this earth. No greater reminder can we have than to look while we can see. Live for Christ and close each season of life with no regrets. Be aware of the next season approaching but keep from wishing the moment you are in away.   

Maybe then we can join Paul in confidently saying we have finished the coarse and kept the faith.