For everything there is a season

By Dr. KNOX HERNDON
Pastor

Different things excite different people. At the different times in our lives we are focused on certain issues that consume much of our time. We are concerned about this, and that, and at the time, these things seem soo important to us. Then as time goes by, we often realize that those issues and situations that we spent so much energy on really didn’t matter much in the big picture of life.

I like the way the Bible explains these musings as “seasons” of our lives. The thing I like about this definition is that I believe it is the best way to explain our lives. If they are divided into seasons, then we can realize that we do not need to fear, or to have anxiety as to what is happening to us right now. In other words, we are in a season of our lives.

I love that long passage in Ecclesiastes that states, “For everything there is a season,” a time for this, and a time for that. This, to me, is so well-stated; that it allow us to be content that whatever is happening to us is for that season. In accepting our seasons" we don’t have to want or worry, but just realize it is for that moment and for that time in our personal histories.

I remember when we lived in my beloved Alaska. The summers were magnificently beautiful. The sunny blue-bird days were the most pleasant weather you could imagine. We would be wearing short-sleeve shirts and go down to the river banks and be catching six- and seven-pound gorgeous salmon, Dolly Varden trout, and huge monster Northern Pike. These settings were picture-book idyllic and comforting. When you would experience a summer day like that you would think that it could never end. In fact, to further entice you into this “forever” mode, the beautiful sunny days would last for 24 hours and never get dark. I can remember fishing so long that I would eventually wear down and begin to get tired. I would look at my watch and realize we had been fishing for twenty-four straight hours and it was 3 a.m. Is that a fisherman’s dream or what?

Then a “seasonal” phenomenon would begin to happen. It was usually the last week of moose season, which was around Sept. 15-20. You would still be in shirt sleeves taking in the gorgeous fall leaf changes and the jet motors on your boat would begin to get clogged with leaves. I am always at the same place on the planet during this seasonal moment in history, and that is with Bill O’Halloran and crew with North Country River Charters somewhere on a river bank. You would notice that the 24 hours of daylight were beginning to get back to a seasonal normal day.

God created a special "seasonal" phenomenon called the equinox. The equinox is the positioning of the sun to where it either adds or subtracts 7 minutes a day of daylight. In the middle of the summer, at the right equinox seasonal moment, you would have a complete 24 hours of daylight. In fact, during this time, you would have to put dark coverings on your windows to keep out the sunlight so you could sleep. Now I can sleep anywhere and at anytime but I do have to have it dark to do so. If I can just shade my eyes, I can go out like a light even if we are sleeping on rocks.

Then, while we are still in shirt sleeves, with a gorgeous blue-bird day facing us, another seasonal phenomenon would take place. We used to call it “the hawk.” The hawk was always in the air, and flying low and slow, but for sure, heading your way. No matter how much wonderful fun you were having, and how much of your clothes you had peeled off to take in this sunny splendor and very warm temperatures, the hawk was inbound. You would see his first appearance on the high mountain tops. It was just a beautiful seasonal dusting of the mountain tops but there, none the least. It may burn off a bit during the day but then the next morning, there he was again, with a new seasonal dusting but a little whiter, and possibly a little lower down the mountain. This was the seasonal sign that the hawk was headed your way. Then one morning, as if he were diving for a field mouse, or a baby duck, he would swoop down and dust your tent and leave the earth covered with a new season.

Now a new season had begun. The hawk was upon us, but not to do us harm. This was the season that separated the men from the boys, the good marriages from the bad ones, the wonderful possibilities from the failed ones. Winter made you or broke you because you had to spend a lot of time together. If you embraced the hawk, he was your ally and friend, if you let him get you down, he would devour you. We choose to embrace him. I have told this story and I will continue to tell it. I bought an old wooden trapper’s sled with a stand up “hold on for dear life” bar. It had metal skagg runners on its wooden runners. This helped keep it in the "ruts" while you were flying through the snow. I then purchased an old John Deer snowmobile. I had some of the best family times of my life loading up our young family onto the sled and snowmobile. We would put a sweater on our little dog, Chico, and then all the clothes we could wear and head for the river. Before we would begin to dress for the afternoon ride through the woods, I would glance at the large outdoor thermometer. If it was minus 20 degrees below zero or colder I would cancel the trip, but if it was minus 20 degrees or warmer, off we went. I had discovered that less than 20 degrees below zero, is just too cold.

We would come up to the river and the kids would squeal, “Faster, Daddy, faster,” because I had trained them over and over to stay off the frozen river. We would fly across so fast that if the ice would have begun to crack we would have flown over it. Then God’s seasonal wonderland unfolded. We would encounter moose and beautiful snow-laden trees and watch the headlight glisten in the snow. We would finally reach the ski lodge where there would be hot chocolate awaiting the family. We would quickly thaw out and enjoy the warmth of the fireplace and the skiers.

Whatever season you are in right now or seasonal situation, realize that it is a season and it is not to be feared or to be anxiety producing even if you have created the season. There is an end to the season and another one is out there and heading your way. God bless you. Embrace it and find where God fits into it. You have many choices.

By the way, you must come see the progress on our new church building. We have the metal framing almost complete. This is a building season for us. I await the first worship service in the new building. More on that later! You must come for our first service hopefully in the late summer or early fall.

(Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). Rev. Greg Mausz is Sr. Assoc. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The church is on Ga. Highway 85 South near Senoia, a mile south of Ga. Highway 16, on the right just past the fire station. Visitors welcome. Church office and prayer line 770-719-2365. E-mail address is KHERN23654@aol.com. Web address is www.hishousecommunitychurch.com. Also visit www.ddaytravelingmuseum.com.)