Seasons
‘You change your life by changing your heart’
Max Lucado
This quote relates perfectly to the current winter season we are experiencing in North America. We have been quite privileged to have enjoyed a fairly late winter but as expected the inevitable occurred and on Friday 2nd November, barely a second day into the new month, our familiar friend was back.
Although, you could hear the murmurs and complaints from everyone about the woes and struggles of dealing with snow. However, gradually you could also sense some sort of relief that the expected had occurred. No more bated breaths and dreaded anticipation, winter had finally arrived. This apparent and physical change in season made me realize that there is beauty in the waiting period and in the different seasons of life.
As a young adult trying to navigate my way through life and fulfilling my purpose, one of the verses that stood out to me, particularly this summer, has been Ecclesiastes 3:11
‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning to end.’
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)
This verse reiterates the whole idea of trusting God and the fact that HE is the one who makes all things beautiful in its time. Understanding that God has a plan and purpose which everything else in our lives must surrender to, it takes the pressure off us to think we can determine how things will always go in our lives. Plus, who doesn’t want a beautiful life right?
The idea of the ‘heart’ also really stands out. Both the Max Lucado quote and the bible verse reference the power of the heart. This leads me to one of my favorite verses at this current season in my life (see what I did there..lol),
‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV).
For me this raises the question, why is it so important to be able to control our heart and all that inhabits within it? And what is the role of our heart disposition in our perspective on the life seasons we experience?
Well, according to Proverbs 4:23, all that we do flows from our heart. Therefore, the manner in which we see our current seasons will be affected by what is in our heart. As human beings in our infallible nature, Jeremiah 17: 9 explains that “the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?’ Ouch! As painful as that is to swallow we must digest and think about that. Honestly, a lot of times when we complain about our current season, whether academically, career wise, financially, in our relationships and so on, it is usually from a place of selfishness and wanting to have what we see others having or from our own personal human desires. Now, I do not believe it is wrong to have desires and aspirations to prosper and succeed. But, as Christians if we have surrendered to God and say we trust Him with our lives, surely his will for us should always come first?
Interestingly, Jeremiah 17:7 states
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”
I am coming to the understanding that sometimes what the world classifies as ‘blessed’ may not always constitute to what the Bible classifies as blessed. I read somewhere that God is more interested in refining our character that in giving us what we want.
Food for thought: what if that difficult season we are in is being used to prune our bad habits and character traits to be replaced with Godly habits and traits.
This is why it’s very important to guard our hearts because it determines our perspective and can affect the mindset we have about our life seasons. Sometimes, our situation may not change but because we change our heart and the way we view that current season, then we can begin to see the blessings in that current season. Also, understand that because the ‘human heart is the most deceitful of all things’ nothing can ever truly satisfy us. Once we have obtained that which we think we need, there is always another level we strive to attain. But, if we learn to allow our minds to be transformed through the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2), then surely this renewal will flow to our heart and eventually we will enjoy and not just endure every life season we encounter.
However, we also know that no condition is permanent and in the words of Tye Tribbett, ‘If He (God) did it before, He’ll do it again.” Let us keep trusting in God while asking him to work on our hearts so when we move on in our life seasons we continue to pursue an intimate relationship with God and not just what He could do for us.
Happy Winter y’all!
#IntentionalGrowth
Mo 🙂 x
