Seasons of Change

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Natural seasons, personal seasons and spiritual seasons all have a purpose,they are designed to move us toward God's purposes for our lives - if we allow it to. "People who understand the principles of change handle changing seasons without wavering in their purposes because they know the Unchangeable One. They understand that as long as they put their faith in Him, they, too, will remain steady".~Dr. Myles Munroe

Seasons are purposed by the Lord The word season is often used to denote change, it defines change that is not a short-term event but rather an extended period of transition. Let's face it our flesh does not like transition, and we definately do not like to hear that a season of transition can be more often than not an extended period of time. We would like it to be as short as possible and get on with a more desirable "season". But we have to remember that there is a purpose and God desires for that season to work its purpose in and through us. Showing us what ever it is he desires for that time.

The seasons He has purposed are by his design I remember like it was yesterday when we came to give Kansas a visit. It was the middle of winter, January to be exact. I noticed change before I ever stepped foot on the ground, from the view from the airplane the landscape was different all together from what I was accustomed to in Florida, from a warm climate and a peninsula surrounded by water to patches of squares from the sky,and winter temperatures waiting to greet us. This Florida girl was about to experience a "real" winter. I remember visually taking in how dry and lifeless everything looked, to be honest it didn't look very "pretty". During the drive from the airport I remember saying "Lord, I don't see anything apppealing to me." He quickly reminded me that we do not walk by what we see but by faith.(2Cor 5:7). It wasn't two minutes later, I am sad to say, that I again said to the Lord "but Lord I dont see anything desirable". He immediately spoke this to me, he asked me a question " "Do you think Mary saw anything desirable about the manger? But out of that undesirable place I brought forth the DESIRE of NATIONS, so don't you think I can bring something desirable out of what you think is undesirable."
There was no doubt about it this was His tender loving correction spoken into my life, and what a correction it has served to be. I will always be thankful for this special moment when He spoke. I have since then asked the Lord to forgive me in my little way of thinking, for numerous times I have remembered praying and thanking Him that His plans and purposes were being fullfilled in our life, but thinking it would be done in a certain way, not realizing that plan and purpose was being fullfilled before my very eyes, that this was His way of bringing about transformation. Sometimes I wonder how many times we wrinkle our nose up to someone or something because of the "winter appearance" it may have, it may look dry and lifeless at the time but inside be full of Beauty and Purpose that within due time is revealed. Remember,God sees the desirable even when we cannot.

Monroe states " No matter what our personal desires, wishes, or attitudes may be, we cannot control an unfolding season of divine destiny. Just as we can't stop winter from coming after autumn, we can't prevent a season of God's purpose, no matter how much we may become angry, pray, or propose plans for doing so. The change is inevitable. It has arrived in the fullness of time.The beginning and ending of a season are not determined by man but by God's sovereign agenda".

Many times we get so accustomed to what we know and are familiar with that we find it hard to invite change. To be honest, I struggled for awhile with comparing the known to the unknown, the familiar to the unfamiliar.The truth is, we can still be apprehensive to change, even when we have felt the stirring in our Spirit that transition is coming, it's like when we feel the change in the air right before Autumn arrives, we know that next season is right around the corner but yet there is a part of us that loves the long dog days of summer. One thing that I have found to be true is, the season that brings transition and change will look nothing like what we have already known and are familiar with. I believe moving into the "unknown" is something that God desires for all of us at certain times in our lives, He calls us to adventure beyond what we know.

God desires for us to move from a place of "eyesight"
to a place of "faithsight"
from a place of "what I think"
to a place of "what God knows"
We are not always given all the details before we follow Him, but the bottom line is that we are called to follow Him. What will "following Him" look like, only He knows the complete picture. He knows what is down the road and around the bend, and as we follow him we will discover what that picture looks like step by step, when we are walking in obedience to His leading. In that process of following Him we will see the effects of change and the benefits of it as well.

Shine Like the Dawn,
Jennifer