A few years ago, my husband and I landed in Australia. We had left Delhi in the peak of winter in the month of January, and landed in South Australia in the peak of summer. Being born and brought up in Delhi, I knew that when the short winter season gets over, winter clothes are packed and put away. We would never carry a jumper or warm clothes with us in the summer season.
However, I was not in Delhi anymore, and I learnt that lesson the hard way. One day, we left for the beach on a bright hot summer morning and ended up staying there till late in the evening. As the sun set, the temperature began to drop. We had no warm clothes, unlike the locals who simply grabbed their jumpers and covered themselves. I couldn’t comprehend how the temperature could drop so drastically, how one could witness such extreme weather conditions in a single day. My husband and I had to make our way back home with me sneezing all the way. I was not ready for that season.
The seasons of life
The dictionary definition of a season is straightforward: “each of the four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), resulting from the earth's changing position with regard to the sun.” However, life also brings us different seasons. Last year, I felt I was caught up in a long winter season with deadness all around. This year, I feel I’ve been enjoying a glorious spring, with blossoming flowers and fruits in my life.
The Bible says, “...be ready in season and out of season...” (2 Timothy 4:2)
While life goes about with different seasons, how can one be prepared in season and out of season? The context in which Paul wrote this verse to Timothy was in regard to preaching of the Word. Paul is preparing Timothy to “stand by” or “keep at it” in the proclamation of God’s Word whether it is convenient or not. Likewise, we are called to do the same. For many years, I hid behind the excuse of not being ready to share about the One who changed my life. I would reach a point of telling people that I would pray for them, but not feel able to share the fact that they could pray to Jesus themselves. There have been times when I’ve felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to share the gospel but I would find myself so unprepared that I would stay quiet.
Getting ready: what does it mean?
Over the past few years, I’ve been challenged and convicted to gear myself up to be ready in season or out of season. I must confess that I’ve not quite mastered this art yet, but I’m quite relived that I’m not in a competition with anyone else, nor am I required to be in performance mode.
I have realised that ignorance is not bliss in this area. I began to pray for wisdom, I read the Scriptures intentionally to gain knowledge (the Bible is a great book to tackle all sorts of issues in this life) and I dared to ask God for opportunities. Above all, I’ve learnt that I’m called to sow the seed and leave the rest in God’s hands.
In the morning, sow your seed, and at evening, withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good (Ecclesiastes 11:6).
Be prepared to leave all seasons in God’s hands
I’ve also learnt to extend the same principle to other spheres of life. When someone gets sacked unexpectedly, has miscarriage, loses a dream or a loved one, suffers prolonged sickness or pain... When the cold winter season doesn’t seem to end or the rain of trials keeps pouring without respite, when life’s dreams seem to fly away like an autumn leaf or you feel like a dry and parched desert land in the heat of the summer… How can one be ready for such seasons?
In such transitory seasons of life, I’m learning to anchor my hope, my faith, in the only constant, my Heavenly Father. When I encounter unexpected changes of season in my life and find myself unprepared and exposed in chaos, in pain, in heat or in rain, I know the Creator of all the seasons -- whom I call my Father -- is in perfect control.
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