The sun has a pattern of bathing the earth in warmth.
The leaves have a pattern of changing colors and letting go of their branches.
The snow has a pattern of blanketing the ground in cold and beautiful whiteness.
The rain has a pattern of falling to make everything come alive again.
They’re life’s pattern. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring. Repeat. Not just for the environment, but for our very souls.
Don’t believe me?
Look back over your past year. Was it a flat road?
I’m gonna go out on a calculated limb here and say I bet it wasn’t. It looks a little bit like a roller coaster, huh?
Up, down, up, down, up, down. Here crying, there laughing, here feeling hopeless, there exploding with hope, here not seeing where God fits into the picture, there not being able to turn around without seeing God’s hand. It’s dizzying, it’s exhausting, it’s always changing, it’s confusing.
But it’s not chaos.
It’s never chaos.
You’re raising your eyebrows. Valid. You have every right to lift your arched facial hair… But listen. 1st Corinthians 4:33 says, “God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.”
God is not a God of chaos. CHAOS HAS NO PART IN HIS CREATION. God put each season in place, organizing them specifically: summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, fall, winter, spring. That is anything BUT chaos.
That’s pattern, that’s predictable, that’s order.
And we have seen those seasons over and over in our own life, through the course of a year, or a month, or even a day. First, summer hope bursts forth to warm the heart. Then fall sets in and things shift in the soul and the season of hope begins to change colors, change tones, to seemingly die. Then there’s winter were no life seems to exist anywhere, only cold weather, dried up hope, and no end in sight. And then comes spring, where God rains hope down, and brings the soul back to life, to help the heart smoothly transition back into the bursting warmth of hope. This isn’t a new teaching to you. You’ve heard all this before.
It isn’t the content you are struggling with. It’s the purpose.
“Yes, Diana,” you say. “I KNOW that these seasons have order in my life, but why did God create it this way? Why couldn’t we just skip the winter?”
I’ve learned a new perspective of this on the race- one that renames environmental seasons to match the seasons our lives. One that gives meaning and purpose to the “up, down, up, down, up down” that we experience over and over again to the end of our lives.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image,
from glory to GLORY.
2nd Corinthians 3:18
In other words, the Lord takes us from a little glory to more glory. And then again, from more glory to even MORE glory. And on, and on, and on, until we meet Him face to face. Every day, growing and reflecting His face more and more.
Sounds great, huh? From glory to even more glory. That’s the pattern He’s instilled in our lives. But look closely. There’s three seasons:
Glory To GLORY.
It’s impossible to receive more of the glory of the Lord without first surrendering our earthly desires. It’s impossible to cling to more of the Lord if our fists are full of our own plans. It’s impossible to grow without first being stretched.
It’s impossible to reach a higher point without climbing.
So we climb the hill, we look around and say, “Wow, Lord, this view of the town is breathtaking.”
I have something more for you, He whispers.
In order to receive the fullness of His glory, we have to surrender the hill view, to step out in faith that He has something more before we can see it. We give up what we see for what we cannot see yet. And we climb down the hill, trudge through the valley, climb an even steeper path up the mountain, feel the pain surge through our muscles. We cry, we ask why, we can’t see, we don’t understand.
We reach the top.
“Wow, Lord, this view of the city is breathtaking.”
Yes, He whispers, but I don’t want you to stay here. I have even MORE for you.
We’ve found something sweeter than we could ever know.
And every day we have a choice: do we settle here, or surrender the richest thing we’ve ever seen, climb down the mountain, back through another valley, up a steeper mountain, and trust that He can make it worth it?
The sweetest view is waiting for you. The most intimate moment you’ve ever had with the Lord is up ahead. The best joy you’ve ever felt is just around the next corner.
The best is yet to come. That’s a biblical promise.
And all we have to say is, “Okay Lord, I’ll trust your plans for me.”
