By Cathy Ballantine
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens” (NIV).
At our recent Anew Conference team retreat, the word “Season” started to become a common word in our discussions. It’s a word that I find encouraging, as I move along in my life with my family, my church and the ministries God has called me to serve in.
I love the start of new Seasons. Not that Qld has distinct seasons like other parts of the world, but in SE Qld, we do get a change. The change as Summer blends into Autumn, days still long but afternoons get cooler. Then it blends into winter where you tuck up into your house in the evening and snuggle under blankets. As Winter blends into Spring, the days grow longer, and the warm air is welcome. Back to Summer, long hot days and nights which leaves me longing for the other three seasons.
When my children were young, I had three kids within 3 years and the terrible twos (which is a lie – they are terrible from 18 months to 3.5 years) were a dark time for me. Fortunately, it is a Season. The Season of being the best mum I could be to my children. I passed through it and came out the other side to a fresh new Season. It’s subtle, there’s no defined ending or starting, but it happens. Just like we can’t stop the progress of the seasons of nature, we can’t stop the progress of the seasons of life. We can’t skip a season if we decide we don’t like the one we are in.
The same thing happens in our church and our ministry. There will be a time that you will progress to a new church or a new ministry. The time will come when God gently nudges you out of your current season and into a new one. Perhaps sometimes we don’t get the message and God might need to give us a bit of a shove to move us on. No matter what, the progress of the season will change, even if we are kicking and screaming against it.
Its perfectly ok to move on from one thing to another. I often felt that it was a fail to leave a ministry God had called me to work in. It is not a fail! He has something better for me! All the seasons are important to Nature and even if I don’t like Summer, it’s a vital part of the health of the world. Skipping summer or a time of your life you are struggling with, would impact greatly on the future growth of nature or impact greatly on your personal growth.
Call to Action:
Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.
Reflect on your Season of Life.
Join the discussion with a comment on your Season.
Cathy Ballantine (aka CathyBee) is a member of the Qld Baptist Women Executive. She is excited to work on the QBW values of Network, Nurture and Equip and connect with the Baptist Women of Qld.
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