“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” ~ 2 Samuel 11:1
As a woman, daughter, wife, and a mother, I’m still learning how to live a life in rhythm with the advent of each new life season. When I fool myself into thinking I’ve mastered the requirements and needs of my family or my own during this current season, the winds of change stir themselves up into a frenzy and blow away this theory.
A newly-licensed teen driver, a change in jobs, a move, a death, even the small, subtle shifts of my family’s emotional landscape, all force me to adjust my perspective. They require me to become attentive in new ways, aware of where I belong, and who needs my time and energy.
I struggle most not at the onset of change, but when I set my shoulder like a stone and lean against it. As Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, there is a season for everything, and accepting the ebb and flow of life’s current, eases the tension the swirling waters create.
When I wrestle with the season in which God has placed me, when I resist the natural shift of tides, I find myself making poor decisions out of a fearful and reactionary heart. I choose self over others, distraction over commitment, or my desires over God’s desires for me.
In 2 Samuel, King David chose to stay behind in the city during the season where kings are called to battle. Rather than leading his people, defending his land, and conquering old boundaries, he remained in Jerusalem. There, he fought an even greater battle against his own flesh.
In the remaining chapter, we see David standing on a rooftop as he discovered Bathsheba bathing nearby. David found himself in the wrong place in the wrong season with the wrong woman. It awakened a desire in his heart that eventually led him down a path of adultery and murder.
David’s experience is larger than life in relation to most of our choices, but it reminds us that we must be focused on the still, small voice of the Father. To what is he calling us? To where? To whom? If we refuse the direction of this season because it is painful or wounding or it strains against our own desires, where will it lead us? Envision the current path in your mind and follow it to it’s natural conclusion. What lies at the end of it?
God continually calls us forward into new seasons of growth. The Christian life is not stagnant; it is ever changing, ever growing, ever evolving. When we bind ourselves to the past, when we refuse to fight new battles and step out into deep waters, we become deaf to the voice of victory calling to us from the future.
To everything there is a season. Let’s move with the wind and the waters and learn how to embrace every hard and holy moment we find in it.
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I wrote this devotional some time ago for another site, and it’s ended up in my archives. I thought I’d offer it here as a little devotional kickstart to our weekend. September often ushers in a season of change, and it’s especially true of my family this year. My oldest turned seventeen, entered senior year, and became a licensed driver all in one week. Pass the smelling salts, please.
As always, thanks for reading.
