Seasons of the Soul

It may be winter, spring, summer or fall outside. But what about inside?

What season are you in right now—not physically, but spiritually? Sometimes our spiritual season doesn’t match the season on our calendars. And what’s going on inside us is in tension with the outside that surrounds us.

We can try to simplify seasons: Spring is renewal. Summer is beauty. Fall is productivity. Winter is dreariness. Yet single words don’t begin to portray the full scope of each season. Different parts of the world experience natural seasons in a variety of ways. Likewise, different people experience spiritual seasons in a variety of ways. How one person responds to a situation in a spiritual winter differs from another person’s response to a similar situation. How one person celebrates during a spiritual summer differs from another’s celebration. Fall productivity differs. Spring renewal differs.

Two years ago, I returned from a writing retreat, and within a week, my husband of over two-dozen years announced he wanted a divorce. No counseling, no discussion, no time out period. He had made up his mind. He was a mental health professional and a well-respected church leader, and he walked away from many friends and family, including me. I felt as if I was suddenly surrounded by a chilling, disorienting blizzard. However, the weeks and months leading up to the fracture positioned me in a different spiritual season. As I sat in a dark room that first night, surrounded by so much rejection, disrespect, and uncertainty, I knew one thing: God was present, and I could trust Him. There was a light source within me. It seemed small in the context of the shrapnel flying around me, but I knew I could trust it. God planted hope. Even in the blinding blizzard, I felt the spiritual signs of spring. That spring season has lasted a lot more than a quarter of a year, but the chill of winter has passed, and I’ve experienced a lot of growth and beauty, nourished by drenching tears at times. However, the colors are vibrant, and summer is coming.

Which soul season are you in right now?

• Spring: Does your life feel as if it is renewing, just about to push through and bloom among the nourishing and sometimes drenching showers?
• Summer: Does your life feel warm, full, and beautiful? Are you savoring the moments and memories, hoping they’ll last as long as possible?
• Fall: Does your life feel productive but also a bit exhausting? Can you see signs of beauty but also signs of loss? Is the sacrifice overwhelming at times?
• Winter: Does your life feel dreary? Are you weary and a bit chilled? Do you long for a bright spot of warmth or light?

You might even be experiencing various seasons at the same time. Sometimes our family life feels as if it’s in one season while work, ministry, health, or other areas reside in other seasons. Even our family experiences and relationships can feel divided among seasons.

At the moment, the outside tells us we’ve hit a certain season. And with that, comes pressure to pack a lot into that season; especially if it's summer (depending upon the part of the country you live). The weather in summer is nice, schedules are different, and days are longer. We can be outside more, which means more opportunities or pressures to get projects and improvements done, chat with neighbors, and exercise more. But, before we know it, the possibilities and pressures can pile up on us.

God will use every spiritual season of your life. He wastes nothing. If it’s in your life, it can and will be used by God.

Consider again, what spiritual season do you most relate to right now? Maybe it is summer, and you’re feeling the warmth of God’s presence and the freedom to enjoy and explore His will and abundant blessings, or maybe it’s fall, and there is a lot to be done in preparation for the long winter ahead. In fall, there is vibrant beauty unlike any other season, but that beauty is caused by loss and sacrifice with the purpose and promise of future growth. Maybe it’s winter in your life right now, at least in some areas, and you feel isolated, chilled, and sad. Or perhaps you’re coming out of winter and can see the signs of a thaw and hope pushing through.

Whether a physical or spiritual season, there’s variety that comes with the different seasons, but there’s also consistency:

• Seasons change, assuring us nothing is permanent.
• Seasons change without our control.
• Seasons require adaptation.
• Seasons don’t always make sense.
• Seasons invite awe and appreciation.

The reality is that not every season is enjoyable. Not every season is comfortable. Not every season is desirable. So often, we want to avoid the uncomfortable and settle only into seasons of comfort. We desire to pull the covers over our heads and try to pass time as the challenges swirl around us, then tightly grab onto the celebrations, unwillingly to unclench our fists in hopes the moment will stay. We want to know what we can do to grow pleasant fruit in our lives as quickly as possible. We don’t like the waiting process. We don’t like not being able to see the connection between what we’re doing today and what happens in our lives tomorrow. We want life to make sense, but we have limited information, understanding, and perspective.

God knows every detail. He knows each growing season of every area of your life. His purpose for us is driven with the passion of establishing an ever-deepening relationship with us. He uses what we experience as both good and bad to benefit us in a way that ultimately glorifies Him. Each season gives us opportunities to rely on God, respond in obedience, and welcome results. We will experience similarities across some seasons and situations, but others will seem foreign to us. Some seasons just simply leave us feeling disoriented, discontent, and disappointed.

However, God will use every spiritual season of your life. He wastes nothing. If it’s in your life, it can and will be used by God.

Every season also requires sacrifice. In order to fully experience God’s purpose, we’ll need to yield to Him and the One who guides and provides for us. We can trust Him alone, because He is the only One who has a perfect perspective. It’s when we think we can handle our soul seasons alone—past, present, and future—that our limitations become apparent. Every season holds blessings for us, but in order to fully experience them, we have to choose to set aside what we think and want, inviting God to carry out His good and perfect will in our lives.

• You can choose to appreciate the beauty of what God is placing in front of you—or not.
• You can choose to be thankful for what God is providing you—or not.
• You can choose to learn the lessons God teaches you—or not.
• You can choose to adapt to changes around you—or not.
• You can choose to trust God through challenges—or not.
• You can choose to seek God’s perspective on each situation—or not.
• You can choose God—or not.

You might have a favorite natural season, but you cannot live in it every day of your life. The same is true for our spiritual seasons. Regardless of where you’d prefer to be, you will not be there every moment of your life. You can choose to sit and fight against it, or you can use the time given to you, learning the lessons that come from every season of your lives and growing your soul the way God purposes so that every season that follows is nourished by the preceding seasons.