“Be ready in season and out of season.” 2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV
“Your season and situation will change but expectation and enthusiasm can be constant.”
Not many things are constant in life. Change seems to be the only constant, if you think about it. And change is to be welcomed. What would life be like if every day were the same – if every season of life were indistinguishable from another? Apparently, God values variety and diversity. Every snowflake is unique. Every fingerprint is individual. At creation He established both day and night and the lights of Heaven to rule over each. He dictated there would be seedtime and harvest. The key to life is finding the rhythm of life and adjusting accordingly.
One of the things I enjoyed as a boy growing up in the Midwest was the change of seasons. September brought the cooling temperatures and changing colors of autumn, and every teenage boy’s dreaded job of raking and burning the fallen leaves. December introduced the cold and snow of winter, ready or not, but also building a snowman and neighborhood snowball fights, and of course the white Christmases. Then spring produced the showers and flowers of new growth and life. And then came the longer and warmer days of summer, with baseball in the street until dark. Each season was distinct in its own right, uniquely to be savored and enjoyed.
Why then are you and I prone to seize upon a single season to our liking and try to make that one size fit all? When you struggle to do so and seem to succeed for a time, you make a life meant to be exciting and challenging into something dull and routine – even boring and joyless! Seasons must have beginnings and endings. Imagine if you learn to anticipate and appreciate each.
Every beginning will eventually yield to an ending – it must inevitably. And every ending assures promise of a new beginning – it does predictably. Listen to the practical wisdom of Solomon, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven . . a time to be born, a time to die . . a time to weep and a time to laugh.” Ecclesiastes 3:1:11 NKJV.
To be wise you must learn to recognize each different season, and to embrace its change as well. That’s why Paul encouraged his protégé, Timothy, to live and serve the same, whatever the season of life or circumstance. See 2 Timothy 4:2 NLT. The season and situation will change but your fervor can be constant, embracing each season equally with enthusiasm and expectation.
I want my life to be as the man God’s Word describes as blessed, “Blessed is the man who . . is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does will prosper.” Psalm 1:3 NIV. He is fruitful in the season of fruitfulness, does not wither when a different season comes, and all the while prospers whatever the seasons bring.
I think that real spiritual maturity will evidence the character trait of diversity with consistency – an integrity that God and others can count on in you. “And do not grow weary while doing good, for in due season you shall reap if you do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9 NKJV. God’s time for you will come. Be ready!
My prayer for you today is to grab hold of that which is unchanging and eternal.