So, when’s spring????
Every year I ask this question at the first nip of chill in the air. My friends just roll their eyes. There is no question I am a warm weather girl - I love the sunshine, the long days and the warm nights. It’s my favorite. But eventually each year winter rolls around, daylight savings time ends and I just want to bundle up under the covers and hibernate until spring.
I’ve been thinking a lot about seasons lately. Not just weather patterns. Life patterns…God patterns. I often joke with Pastor Abbye about the new season. “So, when’s it going to get here already? I’m tired of waiting and that song is getting a kind of old.” We’ve discussed it more than once and I expect we will many more times again. Because as sure as winter, spring, summer and fall happen each and every year - the seasons in God are sure to change too.
I haven’t always fully appreciated these spiritual transitions, commencing a fervent “cease and desist” prayer at the first sting of hardship. It’s taken me a while, but I’m learning that it is much easier to choose my perspective than to change my situation. Yes, I can choose to close my eyes, pull the covers over my head and wait for it all to go away - and it will, eventually. Or, I can pry open my eyes, throw on all the lights, bundle up and venture out in the cold to learn a few things.
Ecclesiastes chapter 3 talks about the seasons of life..a time for everything under the sun. I’ve often read this passage and thought Solomon pessimistic..maybe even a little bitter. There is one verse in the middle of the chapter that particularly caught my attention. Solomon said in all of his wisdom, “I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.” (Ec. 3:14) This didn’t seem so encouraging to me. I mean, why pray if there is a season for everything and God is going to do what He sees fit anyway? How many of us have ever asked that before? Come on, be honest!
My pondering led me to reflect on my own prayers. And, I find I ask a lot of Him. Help,
Help, Help…Fix, Fix, Fix… But you know, Jesus told us to pray differently. He even gave us a verbatim model..the “Our Father” prayer. It’s so familiar to us it’s easy to quote it mechanically and not think about it’s meaning. In fact I find that I myself rarely use it as a model at all anymore. So, to try to gain a little different perspective on this familiar passage, I took a look at it in The Message Bible. This is how it reads…
“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. The world is full of so called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who You are. Set the world right; Do what’s best - as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with You and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything You want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes…He won’t overlook what you are doing; He’ll reward you well. A Life of God-Worship.” (Mt. 6:6- 13,18)
Did you notice He didn’t suggest we help Him by interjecting our desired outcome? I think sometimes I find it necessary to remind God that I am uncomfortable. That I have needs and desires that He might not be aware of. Sometimes I am so much like a little child who hasn’t yet come to realize the content of my Father’s heart is of far more value than that instant gratification I crave so urgently. I pray to God, I need x, I have to have y…but God sees a different need. He gently says, “No, you need to be prepared…I’ve got you. Just trust me.” I have recently been trying to train myself to ask for His perfect will in the matters that concern me without interjecting my opinion. You know what? It’s really hard. You know why? It’s too simple. I feel like I should have a more compelling argument! But as I pray in this manner for specific areas in my life, I find myself reminded of His sovereignty and goodness. And by acknowledging my trust in Him I have discovered a couple of things. One, I am not as easily disappointed when things don’t go quite the way I thought they would. And two, the wisdom that came from enduring the seasons and learning as I go is absolutely priceless.
By trusting our Father’s best we can not only survive the tough seasons …we can seize new opportunities. Because, remember, there is a season for everything. It may be Winter now, but Spring is right around the corner. It’s not a time to retreat, not a time to grow weary. It’s a time to prepare our spirits for the change in season. Time to plant seeds of prayer, fertilize our hearts with perseverance, and aerate our thinking with the Word.
Consider this, without seasons of lack, discomfort and death how could we experience the rest that comes from serving Him for who He is and not what He does? Without enduring the driest of droughts, how could we learn to trust when we don’t understand, to have faith for what we can’t see..much less help others who are going through the same? Without seasons when it seems God is so far away, how could we cultivate a faith capable of standing it’s ground regardless of how we feel? The seasons help us to appreciate the sovereignty and strength of our creator and learn that we don’t have to be in control because He is. And, if we are diligent in the “off season” we are promised a greater return than we ever could have imagined when the season of harvest comes around. “A life of God worship.” What could be better than that?
For me, spring is coming and I am so excited! I’ve seen it, dreamt of it and I have heard reports from others who can see it coming too. New life. The warmth of His presence. New growth. New songs. New passion. A new season - again. I’m learning to relish that.