A Time for Growth
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for everything under the sun.”
Lots of songs have been written about this Biblical truth…most of us can sing right along and relate. Change is the song of our life.
God works in different seasons in different ways. Each of us is in a unique place and goes at a unique pace when it comes to the work of God in us.
I think these unique “growth” seasons generally reflect the climate seasons of summer, winter, spring and fall.
Here’s the thing, every season is uniquely important to the “growth” process of our lives. The dormant winter season has just as much to do with growth, as the bloom season of spring.
A few years ago, Charlotte experienced some “exceptional” drought conditions. I can remember listening to different news outlet’s reports about the “cause” of the drought and thinking it strange. Drought is an effect of lack of rain; no surprise there. However, the question of ‘when’ the worst of the Charlotte drought occurred, had an unexpected answer.
According to many of these reports, the drought’s beginning was in winter…not the hot and dry summer. The winter was so void of rain the ground had no chance to “store up” water for the hot and dry summer months. Thus, when summer came, we were thrust into a drought.
What can we take away from this?
Even if you are in a season “feeling” like nothing is happening or that change isn’t occurring as quickly as you’d like…God is at work. He has a season for it all.
Our role is to be, “like a tree planted by streams of water which yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” Psalm 1:3
We move our hearts closer to the “streams of living water,” that is, we move nearer to our God. We draw from that source in every season of life. Then, we can appreciate every moment of time that life has to offer and celebrate the change we see occurring because of it.
Chris Payne is the Senior Pastor of New Charlotte Church and has been ministering in the city of Charlotte for 14 years. Chris is a graduate of Liberty University and received his Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell. He is currently working toward his doctorate in Marriage and Family Counseling. He is married to Jen and they recently celebrated their 11-year anniversary. They are the proud parents of Jackson, Maryn and Faith and reside in Waxhaw, NC. You can read Chris’s blog at: http://newcharlotte.org/media/chriss-blog.
