Don’t Rush the Seasons
I love fall. When you step outside in the morning and the crisp air wraps itself around you, it’s refreshing. As you drive around, you see the colors of the changing leaves painting a beautiful picture. The smell of fallen leaves mixes with the scent of wood fires, and it fills me with great joy. It reminds me that my favorite holiday is coming up soon: Thanksgiving. This is, hands down, the best holiday, great food and time with family and friends.
As much as I love fall, there’s something I cannot do. It’s impossible for me to rush the seasons to make them come sooner, and there’s nothing I can do to keep fall from moving into winter. The seasons come and go without any help from me. Can you believe that nobody even asks me if the season should change?
The same is true in our lives. There are some seasons we love and want to hold onto with all our strength. Then there are other seasons we wish would pass more quickly, like a summer without air conditioning. Yet no matter how we feel, the seasons come, and we have to accept them.
One thing I’m learning is that each season of life is important. Some we look back on fondly, others we’d rather forget, but all of them shape who we are today.
Right now, our family is walking through one of the biggest season changes in our lives, and it has made me reflect on the seasons that brought us here. It seems that just when we get comfortable, find a rhythm, and settle into our five-year plan, the season changes. Full-time missions wasn’t even on our radar. Well, it wasn’t on our radar, but it was always on God’s. Looking back, I can see now how different experiences were preparing us for this next step.
One danger when seasons shift is playing the “what if” game. To be vulnerable with you, I’ve wondered: What if we had gone straight from college to the mission field? Maybe we’d already be established overseas and further along in ministry. Maybe leaving friendships now wouldn’t hurt as much.
But here’s the truth, I would not be who I am today without the things I’ve done, the lessons I’ve learned, and the friendships and relationships I’ve built. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Last year, I put a wood stove in our home. You can ask my family—I absolutely love it. I’m not even sure why. Maybe it reminds me of visiting my grandma in upstate New York, standing in front of her stove, feeling the rolling heat and watching the flames dance.
But here’s the thing: you have to use it in the right season. If I burn a fire in August, I’ll cook everyone right out of the house. And if I don’t cut, split, and stack wood during the warmer months, I won’t be ready when winter comes. In fact, last year I waited too long and found myself splitting wood in freezing temperatures just to keep the fire going. This year, with the help of my dad, I’m better prepared, I have plenty of wood cut, split, and stacked.
That’s how life works too. In every season, there are things God wants us to learn. If we miss them, the lessons don’t just disappear. They carry over, and sometimes we find ourselves “cutting wood in winter” because we didn’t prepare in the previous season.
So, don’t rush the seasons. Enjoy them. Trust that each one has a beginning and an end. Learn what you need to learn. And above all, seek God in your current season, asking Him to help you be thankful for the past, present in the now, and prepared for what’s next.
