Recently I was standing at the beach, right on the shoreline. It was a beautiful but cloudy day, the seas were rough and as I stood there I watched the waves as they rolled in and crashed right near me. There were rips, and the waves rolled in inconsistently.
Even though there seemed to be so much uncertainty with it all, the one thing that was consistent was that the tide was coming in and I knew that in due time the tide would go back out again.
It made me think about life and how at different points some things can seem a bit rough and rocky, uncertain and even not fair. However, regardless as things may seem, the one thing that remains constant through it all is our heavenly father.
Seasons are a part of life, that is how God created the Earth. It says in the book of Genesis, chapter one verse 14, “On the fourth day of creation he said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years’".
Shifting seasons
Things shift, things change. Nothing really ever remains exactly the same and thank goodness for this! How monotonous would life be if they did?
The one thing that I am grateful for is that regardless of how things may seem, His plans and purposes for us do not change. He is constant. In the book of Numbers, chapter 23 verse 19 it says: “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?”
If He has purposed it, it will happen. It is inevitable that our job title or job description will change, our pay package may differ, our expectations for our own life mightn’t always reflect our current reality, friendships change; however, the one thing that does not change is who He has called me to be – first and foremostly a woman (or man) of God.
Constant God
When we understand this then we realise that everything else is peripheral to this. If something changes in my life it doesn’t change who He has called me to be. If for a season I do something different, become a full-time mother or I am off work or out of action for a season due to health issues, it doesn’t change who I am in God or that this season is any less significant than the last. Truth be told, I believe every new unfolding chapter or season will be our most significant one to date!
The interesting thing I have found is that when we become content and secure in this and as we surround ourselves with good people, we come to learn that when things change it actually brings greater clarity and focus to plans that God does have for us. It also helps us to understand the significance of the place in which we find ourselves, so rather than wishing we were still in the last season; still at the last job, still in the last relationship or still on that last overseas holiday for example, we can freely embrace the new season that He has set before us.
So, how should we respond to a change in season? Understand the season you find yourself in—enjoy it, make the most of it, find new and greater purpose in it and believe that season is significant and that it will be your greatest one yet!
Elise Pappas is a Pastor and together with her husband pastor a church on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. They have a son, Jonathan and a daughter, Sophie. Elise is a former clinical drug trial research coordinator and business owner. She writes about life and ministry experiences.