With summer just around the corner, the change of season is likely on everyone’s mind. However, rather than simply diving into the pool and rejoicing that the gray days of winter are behind us, we should also turn inward at this time, reflecting on the seasons of our own lives, both emotional and spiritual. While we put away our winter coats and take out our flip flops, we must consider what it means to savor the current season, prepare for the new one, and embrace a change of spirit reminiscent of the new season.
Here are 3 ways you can welcome your changing seasons this summer:
- Avoid obsessing over the next season. There may be times when you aren’t content with how your life is progressing in that moment, and you pray for a new beginning. While this may seem like the perfect solution to the situation, there are consequences that come with this desire. Instead of focusing on the season that you are currently in and savoring the joys that it presents you with, you become anxious and preoccupied with what will come next. This inability to appreciate the present for what it is not only takes away from the current season’s majestic nature, but it prevents you from obtaining the new beginning that you so desire. As each moment creates the next, an anxious, preoccupied present begets a similar future—no matter what season comes next. So, when you feel yourself begin to await the next season, remember these words: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
- Invite the Holy Spirit into your preparation for a new season. One of the most important things you can do when you know that a new season is coming is to prepare for it. For example, when summer comes, you prepare for it by moving your heavier garments to the back of the closet and replacing them with light, airy clothing that is perfect for, say, a backyard barbecue. This same concept applies to your spiritual seasons as well. When a new season is on the horizon, you should prepare for it just the same—and what better way to prepare than to open your heart to the Holy Spirit? As Jesus teaches in John 14, the Holy Spirit was sent to be a Counselor, one who would be truthful and never leave. Therefore, in a time of changing seasons, it is incredibly important to invite the Holy Spirit in, so that your change will be one for the better. To remember this, cling to these words: ‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 (ESV)
- Embrace the need for an internal season change. While the world continuously shifts around you, seasons changing from one to the next, consider that an internal change may deepen your connection to the Lord and bring you closer to your ideal self. The Scriptures also point to this as a necessity in the story of Naomi. A woman who had undergone the most severe grief that one can imagine, she traveled back to her hometown in search of a change of scenery, hoping that her spirits would shift as well. However, she neglected to change her mindset—her internal season—and she ended up being known as Mara because she was so bitter and frustrated with the world. This story reminds all of the importance of an internal season change. Today, embrace that idea with the words: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 (ESV)
Today, turn your blues to blessings by helping God spread His glory.
“To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” Matthew 25:29 (NLT)
Share this reflection with 5 others, and click here to order your copy of Blues to Blessings: from Fearful to Faithful today.
Leave a Reply