Seasons come and seasons go, don’t they? Some are hard to say goodbye to and some, well, let’s just say they won’t be missed.
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes that there is a season, a right time for everything…
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
Jobs. Relationships. Dreams. Health. Things come and go and then come again and then go again. Changes can be scary. A new season is new territory. Just when you get used to and comfortable with one season, it changes.
All of a sudden you grasp for anything that screams normalcy and security and stability and safety. Like a fish out of water we are forced to improvise and adapt and adjust. Doing the dishes, taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, cooking a meal, and hanging with friends and family all of a sudden hold great priority. Because they are grounding.
Someone once told me that there are two kinds of people in life. Settlers and pioneers. Settlers buy houses. They lay down roots. They go day to day and live fully in the present. There is a consistent and predictable rhythm and pace to their life. A dramatic change in the past has caused them to set boundaries and play life close to the chest.
Meanwhile, pioneers pitch tents and rent apartments. They see the big picture in life and always are analyzing and dissecting and rethinking and re-imagining. They are the first to explore a new country or area. Pioneers are pathfinders, initiators, and trailblazers. They venture freely into the unknown because they are not tied to the known. Their feet can move quickly because they are not settled in mud. Pioneers ask, “What’s next?” Change, you see, is their normal.
While pioneers know lots of people five feet deep, settlers know just a few people–but 20 feet deep. For settlers, change is resisted. For pioneers, change is pursued.
Are you a settler or a pioneer? Or a combination of both–depending on the season? There are certainly qualities of both that we need. But remember friends, change is coming. We are either just coming out of change, currently in the midst of it, or about to enter into to it. So having a bit of a pioneer spirit might be a good thing. Yes, be in the moment. Yes, dig deep relationally. Yes, buy a house. Yes, change your license plate. But change is likely around the corner.
The Scriptures are full of stories of change and seasons and pioneers. When God called Abram he was in a city in Babylon, named Ur. Ur was a very advanced, modern, affluent city. It had libraries, schools, a system of law, valuable treasures, and a high employment rate. Yet, when God called, Abraham believed God and by faith followed God’s instructions. Hebrews 11:8 states that: ‘By faith Abraham obeyed and went out, not knowing where he was going.“
Noah. Joseph. Moses. David. Nehemiah. Isaiah. Paul. Peter. James. John. All pioneers.
May we live life with open hands. May we never hold things too close to our chest. May we realize what we have is actually not ours. That our life is indeed in His hands. May we make ourselves available to God, always. May we see ourselves as vessels and instruments and ambassadors and jars of clay.
May we be ready. May we be ready for change. May we believe in a God who is about our character, our faith, and His Glory more than He is about our happiness. In the midst of change may we trust a God who never changes. May we never settle for mediocrity, lukewarmness and status quo.
But may we be always moving and dreaming and wondering and imagining and growing and learning and engaging and pursuing and reaching.
And may we be more like Jesus tomorrow, than we are today…