Embrace the Season You Are In

I still remember a winter a few years back. I didn’t want another snowstorm. I normally don’t mind winter in New England and cozy days at home by the fire. But this was different.

Teasers of sunny days and lighter jackets had pushed me into spring mode, and I was ready to embrace it. But then the forecast loomed: another nor’easter. Naturally, I assumed it would be all rain with the spring like weather we had been having. Assumptions are never a good idea.

Instead of a day of rain and wind we ended up with one foot of snow and no power. The snow I could deal with, but the loss of power felt like a burden. I’m grateful to have a wood stove, but no power meant no water. It also meant no lights and no TV and no refrigerator, but it was the no water that really did me in.

But it also meant playing in the snow, time to be unplugged, warm fires. I don’t want you to misunderstand, these could never replace my longing for running water, but there was beauty here, too.

We can find beauty in the hard places.

Every season is a reminder of change. There is hope and joy and loss and hardship in every season. But each season has it’s job.

Sometimes I find myself pleading with God to change the season He has me in. I long for seasons of abundance and joy and warmth. But if all we have are those moments, we will run dry. We will end up lacking. Instead He gently leads us from season to season, each one preparing us, teaching us, filling us in different ways. My tendency is to rush seasons, but God doesn’t rush us; God meets us, lingers with us.

God doesn't rush us. God meets us; He lingers with us. Click To Tweet

As we approach a new season, I pray we embrace it fully. Embrace all the beauty and good in the season, but also embrace the hard places. Choose to accept the challenges knowing that we are never alone in any season.