The temperature is still in the mid-90s, my son just returned home from a week at camp, and our family hasn't visited half of the tourist sites I had hopes for seeing this summer. But, alas, the school supplies have been purchased, soccer and football season have begun and school starts in just a few days. If I didn't have to go back to work at school perhaps I would jump for joy to get the kids out of the house, or perhaps not. This summer just seemed to evaporate under the relentless Midwest sun and I don't feel like I crossed very many things off of my list!
I'm feeling overwhelmed because I'm not emotionally prepared to get back to that school routine. I'm feeling guilty that I have to work through several of my sons' ballgames and I'm wishing my family could have taken a last-minute vacation before summer break comes to a screeching halt next week. (Wait! Maybe that's just the school bus brakes!)
God gives us different seasons, in nature and in life. They don't always come in the order or time we wish. I am a cold-weather girl and would like a short, cool summer, a long, crisp fall and a snowy winter. I'll take my spring long and very cool, nothing above 80 degrees until late June thank you very much! Apparently, I'm either out-voted or God knows better than I how the seasons should progress. Oh, yeah, I forgot about Al's global warming . . .
I also would like to custom order the seasons of my life. Yet there are probably many things I do, large and small, which contribute to the change of season sooner or later than God's perfect plan would reveal. He allows me to make those mistakes and deal with the blizzards, floods and droughts - but He is also there to keep me warm and give me a drink when I don't deserve it. Job had a long, dry season which he didn't really bring on himself - at least in the beginning. Yet through doubt and lack of support from his friends Job never relinquished his faith. Another of my favorite examples of surviving seasons is David. He truly was a man after God's heart and despite bringing many of his troubles on himself through selfish and just plain stupid actions, David didn't turn away from God during any of these seasons.
From the beginning God promised to give us "signs to mark the seasons and days and years" (Genesis 1:14) by the lights in the sky. Does God also provide signs to mark the seasons of our lives? I think so. In Hebrews 5:14 we read the "solid food is for the mature". When we begin to graduate from biblical "milk" to "meat" it certainly marks a new season in our lives. We mature in many ways and God moves life along to keep pace with our spiritual growth. Sometimes that growth comes from a long, relaxing summer season and other times it requires the tragedy of a tornado or hurricane.
This week I will thank God for the season at hand as I pack up the book bags and crank up the air conditioner.