“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecc. 3:1

Some would argue that in coastal SC we don’t experience true seasonal changes.  But we do, they are just more subtle than other places.  Winter requires heat just about every day and every night even if the days reach the 60’s or 70’s but more importantly, everything is brown, looks lifeless and the winter clouds are the most beautiful shades of blue, gray and purple.  Spring subtly enters in with a peek of yellow jasmine in the dreary woods then full blown azaleas, wisteria and flowering pear trees.  Summer is the reality that it doesn’t cool off even at midnight and fall is best noticed by the beauty of a Carolina blue sky and the gradual changes of leaves.  With sunset comes the need to find a cozy jacket and the cycle begins all over again.

Life moves in seasons as well, sometimes dramatically but more often than not, subtly.  So it seems it has been for me of late.  Without even realizing it until I was brought to analyze it, I had been living through a “winter” season even though I was experiencing a physical spring and summer.  Somewhere near the end of the actual summer, I began to move into “spring”.  Like the seeds planted in the cool ground, I seemed to be dormant but in fact new life, new passions, new desires were germinating and growing waiting for the light and warmth of the sun (Son).  I sense now that like the little seedlings just breaking through the soil, I am about to break out of a season of dormancy to a season of vibrant life.

What the text teaches me is that everything happens in God’s time and everything has a purpose in God’s hands.  Do not lament if you are feeling like it’s winter in the dead of summer or even rejoice that you feel like spring when the whole world is anticipating a cold winter.  Rather, note the season you are in, give thanks for it, glean from it and know that everything only lasts for a season.