What season do you most enjoy?

I woke up this morning and heard birds chirping outside my window. The grass was lush and green, the flowers were in bloom, the sky was light blue with but a few scattered clouds. It's springtime - my first time experiencing it while living in northern Virginia!

Having lived on both US coasts, I've now experienced different seasons of weather. Growing up in southern California taught me to take for granted the constant middle 70 degree temperatures. I've braved the hot 120+ degree summers of central California and recently got my first taste of a Mid-Atlantic winter. Irrespective of where you are, I'm sure your experience is similar to mine. Summers are generally hot while winters are cold. Spring marks a season of new life, while fall colors are evidence of shifting towards the end of a calendar year. One thing is certain about seasons and life though - they change.

So, what is your favorite season? Some enjoy summer, others winter, others fall. I personally like spring. We all have a preference and can make a sound case as to why the season we individually enjoy most is best. I'd submit to you that we are all right in our answer.

1. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 God promises that seasons will change. While seasons change in both weather and life, focusing on the good things found in the seasons are the only attributes worthy of our focus (see Philippians 4:8). As an example, in central California I encountered some who only saw hot summers as punishment. Others knew better - they knew summers created space for pool play, an opportunity to see beautiful sunsets, or a chance to enjoy the taste of fresh fruits. In northern Virginia I have met some who only see winters as cruel.  Others see the cold as a prime opportunity to sit around warm fires, enjoy hot chocolate, bundle up in blankets and spend more time with family. In other words, what you choose to focus on in your hot or cold times in life will greatly impact how you get through the season.

2. While God promises that seasons will change, what's better is that He does not change (Malachi 3:6). I believe we love seasons not just because of their unique attributes. But we also love them because they are generally predictable. In other words, the certainness and consistency of what we find in each season also has tremendous value. I've found that while summers can be hot and winters cold, the faithfulness of what we find in the season helps us navigate through the year with a willing heart.  In a sense, knowing with certainty what we will find in each season gives us confidence that we will make it through the changes in seasons.

   
   

3. Ultimately, in life I've also found that season changes only reveal what we personally believe about the season Setter.  Do you view the heat of a tough season as a result of God being cruel? Or do you see His carrying you through tough seasons as a benefit of His extravagant loving grace and mercy towards you?

   
   

   When the Israelites were freed from 400 years of cruel slavery, they entered into a fairly hot season walking around the desert wilderness. Instead of viewing their season through the lens of God's loving grace and mercy they said, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us" (Deuteronomy 1:27). Their words were clear evidence of their view of the nature of God. Sure, they were experiencing heat. Only they failed to realize that God was with them in the heat all the while.

   
   

   Conversely, on another occasion we find three Hebrew boys who were on the verge of being thrown into a hot furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar. In their case, they viewed their experience through the lens of the character of the God in whom they loved responding "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it..." Both cases involved heat on the outside; and both exposed what their view of God was on the inside.

   
   

I don't know what season you are in right now. but what and Who you choose to focus on in each season is a key component to making it through! Whether it's summer, winter, spring or fall, the confidence you find in seasons is only a proxy to point you to confidence in the One Who controls the seasons. I love the spring; and in Christ, spring always comes. Look up... maybe it's already here! 

I'd love to hear how this thought is relevant for you today; or how these thoughts after being put into action have helped you navigate your journey with others and with Jesus!