The Seasons: They Are A-Changin’ by Scott Dunn

Words matter.

How many times have you heard that or even said it? How many times have you listened to someone say, ‘We are in a difficult season.’ Or some derivative of that phrase?

If you are like me, the answer is countless times. There is a good reason that we as Christians use the idea of seasons when we speak about the period that we are in, in our lives. This idea of seasons serves two distinct purposes, and I will get to them but let us cover how broadly seasons are used in the Bible.

God introduces us to seasons at the very beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 1:14 (ESV) we read, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,’”—In this way, God establishes that all life on Earth exists in a constantly changing environment. He designs His creation to adapt and evolve.

God establishes the temporariness of rules in the Bible. In Daniel 2:21 (ESV) we can read, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; —In doing this, God gives us a clear message that power, given to humanity over one another, is temporary and was not meant to establish reigns of terror. Anything outside of God’s will is an aberration and can lead to sin.

Jesus himself tells man clearly that we are not meant to know the entirety of God’s plans, and He explains it using seasons in Acts 1:7 (ESV), Jesus responds to the apostle’s inquiry of when the kingdom of Israel will be restored, “He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.’”— God makes it clear He is sovereign.

Lastly, God gives us great comfort in one of the Wisdom Books in the Bible. In fact, an entire chapter is dedicated to the temporariness of our humanity here on Earth. I will give a snippet, but all of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 speaks to this seasonal design in our lives.

We read this from Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (ESV), “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”—In this way, God gives us both reality that painful times do occur, but great hope that joyful things are returned, and we are not locked into a spiral of discomfort.

Seasons are designed by God and intentionally implemented in our lives for two distinct purposes. The first is a no-brainer because God has created a wide range of life, all with various purposes (Why wasps, though?), and those creatures operate life based on the changes of the seasons.

Birds migrate when the seasons are changing. Bears go into hibernation. Humans clear off the grocery shelves of bread, milk, and toilet paper when a blizzard is coming. God’s creations do some interesting and quirky things when the seasons change. While the whole of creation operates on these seasonal changes, we forget their purpose, and it just becomes something we say, this being in a certain season of life.

Putting aside God’s perfectly designed seasons of change that are rooted in nature. Let us turn to the second distinct purpose of these seasons in life. The seasons themselves represent an allegory of how we live our own lives. I am not just speaking in the terms of birth being Spring and dying being Winter although, that is, in fact, there. It is a huge part, but I want to get away from the macroscopic view and focus on the microscopic part for this.

The difference is that on a microscopic level, experiences feel more impactful because of the immediacy of our predicament. The sharp pain of an unexpected loss, even an expected one. The stress of finances or a marriage that is weakening. The season you are thrown into with an event like those is powerful, sometimes immediate, and can be crippling but is generally ‘short’ on a macroscopic level. You do not go through life without the pain of loss of some kind; that is an impossibility.

These difficult seasons exist for a reason; they are not punishment. God has not thrown a dart at a board and decided it was your turn to suffer in some way. It is an opportunity instead. God is reaching out to you in your time of need. He is telling you he wants a personal and deeply connected love relationship with you.

God gives us a choice; He has since creation. Choose to seek Him, and through Him, find a season of growth. Or choose to remain complacent and not know the depth of His love and strength as He designed it.

Let me leave you with a powerful truth. God is not seasonal. He is like a mighty evergreen, always there, resilient, loving, and hand extended to welcome you into His comforting presence. Do not let our seasonal nature hide you from that undeniable truth.

If your season is difficult, seek He who has authority over them. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Scott Dunn is a Christian husband and father who has spent over 15 years in the telecommunications industry. He is the founder of Talking with God (https://twgpodcast.com), a podcast that seeks to educate and encourage a closer relationship with God.

Scott is a northerner who migrated south and has fully acclimated to the wonderful area known as the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He serves at his local church by helping with the production and online streaming of services.

He has a genuine passion for the Christian man and his responsibilities, often writing about them on his blog https://justholdfast.com. Here he shares open and real-life experiences so that other men can relate to the human condition and how that relates to a stronger love relationship with God.

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