Be Content in Your Season of Life
“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
I’m sure this isn’t the first time that you’ve read these often-quoted words by Solomon, and it most likely will not be the last. I’ve read them many times myself as a reminder that life does not stay the same. As time passes, things change. Some seasons are short-lived, some seasons seem never-ending, but in time, will also pass. As I read these words again in my current season of life, the first phrase is what stuck with me the most:
“There is a time for everything.”
Notice that King Solomon does NOT say, “There is time for everything.” That one tiny word makes all the difference in the meaning of those words: “a.” There is a time for everything, but not time for everything in each season. In fact, the verses describe numerous times in which to give up, let things go, or move on. It’s an important distinction that I frequently find myself willfully ignoring.
I’d like to think that if I stay positive and just keep the coffee flowing, I can fit everything in. And some days I feel like I can! I get everyone where they need to go on time, cook a relatively healthy dinner, stay on top of all my projects at work and my emails outside of work, get a workout in, perhaps even find some “me time” to read … and then the next day comes. Why is it that the days when you feel like “I got this” are followed closely by a day where everything crashes and burns? Perhaps it all goes wrong because we can’t possibly maintain everything in every season of life.
What does your season look like? Are there things you desperately want to add to or remove from your life? Are you already looking forward to your next season?
True contentment is so incredibly hard to achieve. After all, we live in a world where we’re constantly bombarded by ads showing us all the things we still need. On social media we see all the things everyone else already has. But no one can make time for everything they’ve ever wanted out of life right now. For some it’s a time to travel, or focus on their health or find their true passion. I’ll be honest, sometimes I wish it was a time for some or all of those things right now too. But I have to accept that this season of my life involves a time for chicken nuggets for dinner, a time for a messy house and a time to let the kids go one more day without a bath. This season involves a time (many times) to let go of what I think my life should be.
One thing I can be certain of is that life will change, and most likely, I’ll find myself missing things from this very season when I look back. My current season of squishy baby faces, fulfilling yet stressful work and crazy schedules is such a blessing. Your season of life is full of blessings too. It might not be a time for certain things you want out of life, but it doesn’t mean that time isn’t still coming. Nor does it mean that this time is any less valuable.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
It’s always the perfect time to give thanks for your season of life. It won’t have everything and you won’t be able to do everything you want, but God has given you everything you truly need to be content.
“I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13