Everything Happens for a Season . . .

My husband and I were driving down the road the other day and passed a church that had this message on their marquis: “Everything Happens For A Reason.” I repeated that several times and thought that was a little clichéd for a church sign. Obviously “everything happens for a reason!” I know that God has a reason for everything that goes on in this world and they are not always reasons we understand or are supposed to understand.

But, then it occurred to me, as I investigate my own current season that “everything happens for a season.” Just as we experience fall before turning into winter, and see the many environmental changes that take place, we know that it is all temporary. After winter, we will see the emergence of spring with beautiful, vivid colors and lots of flowers blooming. Then comes the heat of summer, then the crispness of fall once again. It’s all temporary and ever-changing.

There is a comforting hope in knowing that we have seasons of our lives. Periods of time that are temporary. Of course we want the good times of life to last forever and the bad times to go quickly. That is human nature.

When Jerry and I got married, I wanted our honeymoon to last forever. When I gave birth to each of our girls, I wanted the awesomeness of those moments to last forever. The first time we had to visit the emergency room with our child, I wanted it over as quickly as possible.

When our girls were babies, I thought that I may never have a life of my own again. Then, before I knew it, they were off to college and I had more time to myself than I could bear. I missed them terribly. I had to re-invent myself. Now I see those times as some of my seasons of life.

We are told in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 of the New International Version:

¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:

²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to search, and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷A time to tear apart, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak;

⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

I have come to the point in my life that I have learned to embrace the seasons of my life. I am very blessed to be in a season where I get to wake up every day to a wonderful husband, spend quality time with my grandchildren, still have a trick or two to teach my daughters and wait in anticipation to see where I can serve the Lord.

Everything does happen for a reason…. and a season!

By Pat Schwieder