Seasons of life seem to come and go. Like a clock that always comes back to 12 or a calendar that returns to January every year. We understand cycles. Think about the earth on its cycle as it revolves around the sun and continually rotates. Causing us to have a morning and an evening each day.
There are so many cycles and seasons in this world. Monday is a work day, Sunday is a rest day. Scripture puts it like this in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
This is the way God set things up. He not only understands seasons, He was the one that created them. If you think back through your life, you will find many different seasons that you have already experienced.
You will remember times of trials, hardships and perseverance usually followed by times of fun, holidays and joy. Did you know that God created the holiday?
A new perspective
We must start thinking like God if we want to understand and not be frustrated with our circumstances.
There have been plenty of times that I have been frustrated. You know what I'm talking about. Not a simple frustration of everyday life, but really frustrated with what's going on. If I looked at my life, as a whole, I would be disappointed.
Thoughts would first start to attack my situation and trickle down into everything that I was and everything that I stood for.
New thoughts
If your thoughts start to attack your identity, then you need to get new thoughts.
A couple months ago I was working in a job that I didn't enjoy. I was frustrated with where I was and what I was doing. I knew that it was only temporary (about 5 months), but it felt like an eternity. Especially when Monday came back around and my next time off was 5 long days away.
My perspective was caught up in what I was seeing in my everyday life. I had to realise that the way I was seeing was not God's perspective.
Hindsight is 20/20
Looking back is easy. As the saying goes "hindsight is 20/20". But God is looking for people that don't need hindsight to excel. He is looking for people that can see their situation as an opportunity rather than a barrier. The way you walk through your circumstances will determine your breakthrough.
God is always setting us up for victory and for the "more or better" that we are looking for. What we tend to forget is that God works in cycles. Just because the season you are in isn't your most favourite, doesn't mean that the next season won't be your best one yet.
My challenge to myself and the reader: Start to understand the seasons that God takes us through and allow each season to be an opportunity, not a barrier.
Jason LaLone is on staff at YWAM Brisbane. He is passionate about discipleship, taking Jesus's command to make disciples of all nations as a practical reality that he can live on a daily basis. He loves lasagna, cats and used to dislike Monday's, making him most like Garfield.
Jason LaLone's previous articles might be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jason-lalone.html