GOD ORDERS THE SEASONS OF LIFE

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” – Genesis 8:22

Almighty GOD ORDERS the SEASON’S of LIFE: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen.8:22). God is the Unchanging Changer, God of New Beginnings, and God of another Chance! He designed change into creation. Our lives and times are in ordered cycles and seasons. God has programmed freshness into every new day, week, month, and season of life!

It is therefore useful to meditate on how the natural seasons illustrate our lives on earth. In the temperate regions, the four natural seasons are: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. God is the Author and Sustainer of times and seasons, both natural and spiritual. He is the God of Times and Seasons. Times and Seasons are part of the divine design. God intends for us to live by design rather than by default! Studies of biblical characters that fulfilled destiny are living proofs of such divine design.

In a general sense, these four seasons represent seasons of our lifetimes, as follows:

Spring: represents from birth To Young Adult. Birth begins spring season, which sets the stage for the rest of the lifetime. The season of Springs sets the pattern for the future. The main challenges are: Survival, Growth, and striking the balance between Nurture and Nature.  This is the season when the child develops ideas of value and worth from family and society, that is, the cultural environment. It is therefore the basis of lifelong ideals. The height of spring – Puberty – is characterised by tumultuous changes, and a combination of pain and pleasure. This is the time for mentoring the child to make the right choices and a time to provide adequate resources to enhance the making of such choices.

Summer: represents Young Adult To Middle Life. Summer is characterised by Fertility, Planting, Sowing, Nesting, Ripeness, and Stability. This is the transition from childhood into adulthood; from boyhood into fatherhood; and from girlhood into motherhood. Seeds of childhood dreams begin to yield fruits. The young adult takes on responsibilities, engages in selfless giving especially in marriage, and faces the challenges of surmounting new mountains! New seedlings are nurtured to produce a new generation. The young parent often sacrifices his or her own needs, but must be careful not to lose ‘self’ in giving to the offspring! This is the season when the sun is at its zenith!

Fall or Autumn: represents Mid-Life experiences, and more-or-less begins the second half of a lifespan. It is the season to take stock for a fresh start! The key characteristics of autumn are: Maturation, Harvesting, Experience and Reflections. This is the preparation of sorting for winter: what’s needed and what has to leave! It is a time to balance between the past and the future. The older adult is expected to have attained the height of career or life’s endeavour, and some, upon reflection, usually make radical changes in career at this time. This is the season of Revival of buried dreams. It is either marked by harvest or disappointment! This is the season to learn to use Power and grow in Wisdom. For the female, it is the season of menopause, which represents other great or major changes!

Winter: represents the Golden Years of Old Age. It completes our passage through the seasons. Wisdom is the hallmark of winter. The aged by learning and experience, understands the meaning of life more fully having gone through all the seasons! It is characterised by experience, history, and power. On the flipside, bodies depreciate like the bare elegant trees of winter, with their withering branches reaching to heavens. The roots are ready to give life again to spring. The main challenges are: diminishing physical strength and the burden of leaving a legacy.

Understanding the seasons of life will enhance our lives’ priorities and purposes (1Chr.12:32). When we recognise and respect the seasons of life, and relate positively to each, God ensures that we do not miss His divine timings!