Seasons of Life
I turned 55 last Monday. To celebrate my entry into the “senior season” of life I thought I’d ride 55 miles on my bike (not my E-bike). I think I felt the need to prove to myself that I could still do hard things physically. I was sore all week, but I did it! I had a lot of time to think while in my bike saddle (4.5 hours to be exact). I found myself rehearsing the various seasons of life along the way – my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. I drew a few conclusions:
(1) I’m a blessed man. God’s kindness abounds at every turn and in every season. He is there during the dark days and on the mountaintop. He wastes nothing in His sovereign plan to conform me to the image of His Son. I gloried in rehearsing His plan to mature me with patience and purpose at each season of life. He is working in your season even now!
(2) Season’s change. Like God ordained the Winter to give way to Spring, and the Summer to fade into the Fall, so also, He ordains seasons of my life. My marriage has cycled through seasons of ups and downs. Our parenting seasons have been filled with lots of “littles” running around with heavy seasons of training, to young adults making their way, and now a new generation as we enjoy being Pops and Mimi. He gives grace for the very season you are in, not the one yet to come!
(3) Days are long, but Years go by fast. God ordained time, controlling the 24-hours it takes for the Earth to make one spin on its axis, and the 365 days it takes to orbit the sun one time. We get so anxious wishing one season of life will pass only to look back and wonder how it went so quickly. The Teacher said it so clearly in Ecclesiastes 3 – “For everything there is a season” (3:10), as God “has made everything beautiful in its time” (3:11), so we should “be joyful and to do good as long as [we] live” (3:12), because “this is God’s gift to man” (3:13).
God’s gift to you today is today. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and trouble is certain. So, live on purpose, serve with generosity, give your life away for the Kingdom. What is certain for every child of God is a glory-filled future beyond our wildest dreams. Here’s to the miles ahead He gives us!