Challenge #67

What season are you in? What season is your marriage in? We all go through seasons, it is inevitable. And not one of us can stop the seasons from changing. There are two important things I want us to touch on today. The first is the knowledge of seasons and the second is the preparation for seasons. If you don't recognize that there are seasons in life, it is unlikely that you will be prepared for when the seasons change.

What do the seasons of weather look like on earth? Well if you're in Texas, they look like pretty dramatic changes (versus California in which you have 1 1/2 seasons the entire year). In this illustration, consider your marriage to be like Texas. It would be a tragedy to venture outside in a turtleneck and heavy coat in July in the same way it would be to venture out in shorts and flip-flops in December. In both situations, we would be ill-prepared and surely not like the result. So we don't do this because we value our health and desire neither heat stroke nor hypothermia. It is our knowledge that the seasons will change that affords us the opportunity to be better prepared and respond appropriately.

The seasons of life are much like the seasons in Texas, (though they hopefully don't change nearly as often) and your marriage will go through these seasons as long as your persevere. Let me say that again. Your marriage will go through these seasons as long as you persevere. You have to get through the bad seasons to enjoy the good. Unfortunately for us, we can't predict which sesasons are coming next. A season of joy and excitement in welcoming a new baby could turn into a season of mourning and heartache in the loss of the child. We don't know what is coming in life, and sometimes it's a curveball.

But are you prepared? That is what matters: your preparation. Are you already relying on God? Has your marriage been built up in such a way that when harsh seasons come, you and your spouse are not driven apart, but pull closer together in love, unity, and support? If the metaphorical blizzard hit tomorrow, would you have adequate clothing to wear? You may not know when the harsh winter is coming, but it can and will come for everyone during life, so why not do what you can to prepare now?


Will your marriage make it through the seasons of life? It will if you trust in the Lord and build your marriage with God as the foundation! "...his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Pslam 1:2-3

 Today's challenge is to find a way to better prepare yourself and your marriage for the changing seasons of life. With that, I leave you with some of the most beautiful insightful words ever written.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
 ¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
 ²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
 ³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
 ⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
 ⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
 ⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
 ⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
 ⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.