Season Change

“Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.” - Jeremiah‬ ‭8‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A few days ago, I was looking back with frustration on the days that I used to wake up at 4am and pray for an hour before getting ready for work, or come back and spend my time watching sermons and reading scripture. In those days, I was able to spend so much time in devotion and I periodically looked back and wondered what happened. Condemnatory questions like, ‘do I no longer love the Lord as much as I did before?’ would pop up in my mind.

But God reminds me of the fact that seasons change, but the love remains; It cannot always be springtime. There are days and seasons of life where it would be harder for your devotional life to remain as fervent and there will be some seasons where it will feel as easy as breathing. There are seasons of stillness and free time, and seasons where you can definitely feel stretched thin and almost no time to yourself.

God remains ever close and ever-present in every season.

The truth of the matter is that nothing is done by accident, and some seasons will require more intentionality and adaptation for you to seek the face of the Lord. It doesn’t mean that you love Him any less, or that you no longer are strong in your walk. It means that you have to now find alternative ways to seek out that time with Him. The scripture at the beginning of the newsletter speaks of how nature instinctively understands the changing of seasons and adapts to them, and so should we.

I’m reminded of this when I go on my daily walks -  some days it is so easy to get 10K steps and other days it feels like such a challenge but at the end of the day the steps are done.

That’s kind of how it is in our walk with God. Not in a legalistic way of ‘if you don’t do this you’re not a good Christian’ but actually in a ‘this is a desire that I have, to seek the face of the Lord and so what do I need to put in place to spend time with Him?’

So as we go into a new year your season may look different. You may be led to begin waking up earlier to spend time with God, or it may no longer be the season of 4am prayers. It could be listening to worship on your walk to work as opposed to sitting down in your prayer closet for hours on end.  It might not look like sitting down at the table to read your Bible anymore, but instead listening to scriptures and sermons as you feed your newborn.

The season may have changed from what you’re used to and what is required from you will be different, but I want to encourage you to no longer look back at the days of old, but look forward to see what the Lord is doing; how He is leading you to Himself, in this new season. And behold, as He is doing a new thing.

The only time that you should look back is to remember the promises of God and what He has said over you as opposed to what life looked like in the previous season - because that season is gone.

Don’t look back and beat yourself up on what used to be, but look forward at what God can do in the newness. God is Lord over every season - this new season is not a surprise to Him. He even gives grace and strategy for it.

Even though it looks different, God, His love and His proximity to you, still remains the same. He has not moved from your side. He is as close as He has ever been.

And the season may have changed but the goal is the same: to gaze upon Him, to look at Him, to walk with Him and to love on Him.