A Season for All Things

Worried and bothered and anxious - I’m sure many of us can relate to these feelings and emotions. Sometimes we cannot even pinpoint why we are so bothered or anxious and just keep going whilst being irritable and easily frustrated.

In Mark 10:46-52, we read about Jesus restoring blind Bartimaeus’ sight. Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by and called out to Him for mercy. Jesus knew exactly what his need was, but still He asked him: “What do you want me to do for you?”. It’s important to figure out exactly what our need is and to be able to put it into words.

The other option is to remain on the treadmill of life and to never experience the freedom Jesus wants to bring into our lives. Jesus encourages each one of us to share our specific needs with Him. When we take the time to pause in His presence, we are actually inviting Him into all the turmoil going on in our hearts and minds. We are allowing Him to speak into our lives.

This is exactly what Martha did. She found herself distracted by all the preparations that had to be made for her visitors, while her sister, Mary, chose to sit at the feet of Jesus listening to His every word. She went to Jesus and asked: “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” In doing this, she gave Him the opportunity to bring His truth to her situation and to remind her that sitting at His feet was more important than anything else that was occupying her life. When we sit at Jesus’ feet and learn to know Him more and more, He gives us “everything required for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3, HSCB).

I had been wrestling with a season in my life and every time I was confronted by it, I ended up feeling upset. And so, the vicious cycle of regret over my reaction found a foothold every time. Asking the Lord what in the world was going on with me, the realisation came that it was actually time for me to let go of one season in order to embrace the next season. I was constantly resisting the change that had taken place, always wanting to ‘fix’ everything, which ended up in frustration every time.

The Lord showed me that this behaviour was actually stopping me from finding joy in the new season. I was stuck in the outward details while the actual issue was rooted in something else: letting go and trusting Him in the new. Ecclesiastes 3:1 brought more revelation: ‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens’ (NIV). This is how the Lord has planned all things and His plans are ‘to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).