For some time now I've wanted to post a new blog but I haven't had the time, or made the time, to sit down and write it out. I've been busy lately. And haven't we heard that before? Really it's true. It's true that I've been distracted for some time from Spiritual things.
I've been thinking about the seasons or stages of life and how there are distinct times in our lives when we're hard-pressed with certain activities at the expense of all other things we could be doing. This seems to be normal, yet at times we seem to be on a conveyor belt of life that takes us places whether we like it or not.
We know there are chronological seasons that we can begin with. When we're young we run through the high school years and then decide to go off to college. This is an influential time as we discover what we like and what we're interested in, and hopefully, we combine them together to pursue our life's work. It's also a time to meet people with common interests and desires, making friendships and relationships that will influence our entire adult life.
Then there's the family stage of life when we find a spouse and the kids begin to spring up out of nowhere. Life doesn't slow down as we start a career or build a business to pay for things and stuff for our family. It begins to move in fast forward as there's much to do with little time to do it. We soon realize life is always going to be this way if we seek to uphold the responsibilities that we've begun at the beginning. And we sometimes ask, is this all there is in life? Is life a type of carousel, or rather, is it like an upward spiral staircase?
There are other seasons in life mixed in with the youth, teenage, college, young adult, career, parenting, middle-aged, and beyond. There are Spiritual seasons of faith as well. There are times of confidence and doubt, seasons of fruitfulness and barrenness, of floods and droughts, profitability and want. There are seasons of happiness and disappointment, of health and sickness, of birth and death. All these are mixed in together as we travel through the stages of life. Do we see the Spiritual seasons of birth, growth, testing, failures, victories, praises, and glories in life? Do we seek these Spiritual realities?
Focusing on the Spiritual life takes us through all the other seasons of life in the best way. We cannot control many circumstances in our lives but we can accept them in faith as we accept God's providence. We can look back on the past and forward to the future, and we can look up to God. God teaches us, as we've seen so many times, that he is in control and he is benevolent. He is the One who doesn't change even as we change and everything in our world changes and then changes again.
Our best seasons are when we seek Christ in faith, trust, and prayer and ask that he would teach us and sanctify us through it all. When we focus on Christ all the seasons of life become secondary as we discover the Spirituality that is primary. And this is still a challenge for me. But I seek to remember that Christ has created us, redeemed us in grace, sanctifies us in his image, and will bring all things to consummation. He calls us upward to him for our Spiritual growth so that we not only go through life but we would walk with him in faith in every season of life. Amen.
FAITH TODAY: Colossians 2: 6-7, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
I've been thinking about the seasons or stages of life and how there are distinct times in our lives when we're hard-pressed with certain activities at the expense of all other things we could be doing. This seems to be normal, yet at times we seem to be on a conveyor belt of life that takes us places whether we like it or not.
We know there are chronological seasons that we can begin with. When we're young we run through the high school years and then decide to go off to college. This is an influential time as we discover what we like and what we're interested in, and hopefully, we combine them together to pursue our life's work. It's also a time to meet people with common interests and desires, making friendships and relationships that will influence our entire adult life.
Then there's the family stage of life when we find a spouse and the kids begin to spring up out of nowhere. Life doesn't slow down as we start a career or build a business to pay for things and stuff for our family. It begins to move in fast forward as there's much to do with little time to do it. We soon realize life is always going to be this way if we seek to uphold the responsibilities that we've begun at the beginning. And we sometimes ask, is this all there is in life? Is life a type of carousel, or rather, is it like an upward spiral staircase?
There are other seasons in life mixed in with the youth, teenage, college, young adult, career, parenting, middle-aged, and beyond. There are Spiritual seasons of faith as well. There are times of confidence and doubt, seasons of fruitfulness and barrenness, of floods and droughts, profitability and want. There are seasons of happiness and disappointment, of health and sickness, of birth and death. All these are mixed in together as we travel through the stages of life. Do we see the Spiritual seasons of birth, growth, testing, failures, victories, praises, and glories in life? Do we seek these Spiritual realities?
Focusing on the Spiritual life takes us through all the other seasons of life in the best way. We cannot control many circumstances in our lives but we can accept them in faith as we accept God's providence. We can look back on the past and forward to the future, and we can look up to God. God teaches us, as we've seen so many times, that he is in control and he is benevolent. He is the One who doesn't change even as we change and everything in our world changes and then changes again.
Our best seasons are when we seek Christ in faith, trust, and prayer and ask that he would teach us and sanctify us through it all. When we focus on Christ all the seasons of life become secondary as we discover the Spirituality that is primary. And this is still a challenge for me. But I seek to remember that Christ has created us, redeemed us in grace, sanctifies us in his image, and will bring all things to consummation. He calls us upward to him for our Spiritual growth so that we not only go through life but we would walk with him in faith in every season of life. Amen.
FAITH TODAY: Colossians 2: 6-7, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
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