Monday Reflection: Embrace Your Season

For everyone there is a season: A time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to live and a time to die. A time to root-up and a time to plant. A time to keep and a time to throw away. I need not go on, you all know this Bible scripture. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, it's one of the most quoted scriptures in the Bible.

At 49 years old I have come to understand that the truths in this text will surely come to pass and acceptance is half the ball game. Not only that, with acceptance comes so much more joy. And when we fight what should come to pass, we create chaos and problems for ourselves. Like yesterday, my friend and confidant, Markeeda and I had plans to hit the Mag Mile and check out the shops. Of course we did. Any good hostess would take her out of town guest to Chicago's premiere shopping area and any Diva would want to go.

But as the morning progressed into the afternoon and the afternoon into the evening and the evening into the night it became clear to us that what was planned was not supposed to come to pass.

I mean every time we looked out the window and believed the rain was going to pass and our plans would be put into action it started to pour like the sky was mad at the earth. I mean really! There wasn't a sprinkle to be found just a constant pour. And when it finally stopped raining and the sun came out there wasn't a store open if our life depended on it.

As we surrendered into the calm of our day something magical happened. A friendship blossomed into something beautiful. And that would have never happened if we had forced the plans that we had for ourselves rather than accept the season that God placed before us.

Think about it, we probably would have spent most of our time complaining about the rain, frustrated that when we were ready to leave one store we were stuck. And for sure, one of those unexpected, nowhere pours would have caught us.

At the end of the day we would have found ourselves wet and our spirits dampened. Yep, if we had fought it, we would have missed those special moments of laughter, those beautiful moments of silence, those profound discussions and those expressions of love that came in the form of a meal, a cup of tea and a cupcake. And equally as important, we would have missed out on a day of peace and tranquility that was needed for both of us.

But I think it's like this in all areas of our lives. Our failure to embrace the season that we are in leaves us unfulfilled and even broken in some cases. We spend so much time fighting the right now, we not only miss what God has for us next, we miss the goodness in the right now. We are so blinded by our own desires, we miss the blessing that God has crafted especially for us out of the current situation. We want the season to change before it's time. But it's true, April showers bring May flowers. Without the rain, there would be a drought and we would wither. There is goodness in every season that God created.

This is true from dating to our jobs. We stay in relationships far longer than we should. We try to make relationships work that died long ago. I mean we kill it over and over again trying to keep it alive. And in the process we kill a part of our spirit that cannot be regained. And we miss the blessing stuck in the madness.

On the one hand, we don't give our seasons a chance and on the other, we try to hang on to the summer when it is clearly winter. Like with jobs, instead of putting the time in looking for what's next, we stay until our ass is kicked and our spirit is broken and we find ourselves fighting to hold on until we can find what's next. Sometimes it's so bad coming to work makes you sick, you want to kick someone's ass every day and you are over it long before the clock strikes lunch.

But it could have been avoided when God spoke to your spirit and said it's time to move to what's next, or God is talking to you in so many ways, you need to stay still. We reject the season before us for the season we want.

For me, I'm learning to accept the seasons of my life. To embrace the beauty and blessing that lies within. For there is something wonderful in every single season. Even in friendships there are seasons and God knows what you need. Joy and even peace will come when you can truly become content in whatever season you find yourself in.

Like the Apostle Paul: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  (Phi 4-11-12)