There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecclesiastes 3:1

When I lived in southern California I used to say that we had two seasons, summer and some sort of hybrid season that combined the other three traditional seasons. The weather didn’t necessarily fluctuate within the range traditionally associated with four distinct seasons. Instead, I enjoyed what would be described as a moderate climate. Having moved north to the upper central part of the state I have come to appreciate the greater variety that the four seasons provide. It is amazing and enjoyable to experience the variations in color and climate associated with each particular season. My life is richer for the experience.

Each season signals change, as well. The introduction of a new season means that the past season must be left behind and a new season embraced. This change is part of the beauty of the seasons, a blessing gained. It also signals a loss of something else, something with which we may have grown accustomed or comfortable. Change tends to keep me off balance and at times makes me uncomfortable. This seasonal change within creation can often mirror the seasonal change I am experiencing in my life’s journey.

It seems that just about the time I have a handle on one life stage or season, a season of life change occurs and I’m forced to abandon some of my previous perspectives on how life works and seek fresh guidance for a new time. The writer of Ecclesiates makes the statement that there is a season for every activity under heaven. My problems usually are related to my attempts to continue activities beyond their appropriate season because I’m too afraid to try something new, or just too lazy. It seems that God knows that all activities may not be appropriate in every season, while some activities may be highly appropriate in a new season.

It is presently the season of fall and the weather is growing cooler and the skies are showing a bit more cloud than sun. Rain is showing up in the weather forecasts and at the higher elevations snow is predicted. This is fairly normal for this time of year. As the season has changed there are some jobs that those wiser than myself begin to address around the house. If these jobs are not addressed there is the potential for future difficulties. This became highly evident to me when we had the first heavy rainstorm of the season and water was leaking into our house through our back door. This had never happened in the previous nine years in this house and so it was completely unexpected. I wasn’t quite sure I could access what the problem actually was and so my wife and I were just desperately trying to keep the water soaked up with towels that was seeping in all around the back door frame.

As it continued to pour rain my wife suggested that I use our ladder to get up and check the outside seals of the door. I love it when I get to do these things in the pouring rain, especially climbing an old wooden ladder…What I noticed when I climbed the ladder to inspect the frame of the door was that the rain gutters, which were intended to divert the rain water to a drainage pipe, were completely filled with water and spilling over. As I reached my hand into the gutter I realized it was not just an over abundance of water filling them, but an over abundance of every leaf, stick and displaced moss from the previous nine years. The gutters were completely clogged with debris that had accumulated over time. It seems that when you have a home with rain gutters that cleaning them out periodically is a good idea, a necessary job that had been left unaddressed.

A new season in life can call for new activities that are appropriate to the season. For me, one of the practices I need to attend to is the inspecting and cleaning out some of the rain gutters of my life. I must check for clogs from the debris of broken and dead aspects of my own sinful perspectives, attitudes, words and actions that over time have made me less able to receive the flow of God’s living water in an appropriate way. I resist these moments because they involve greater effort and tend to dislodge me from my comfort zone. They focus in on my ego, my willfulness and my self-centered tendencies. But this is what is called for if I’m to live in the free flowing power of God’s Spirit; the gutters must be addressed and cleaned out.

One of the spiritual practices that assists me in this process is the practice of examine. In this practice one daily reflects upon places where one has recognized and responded to God’s presence, as well as those in which one has ignored or been inattentive to God’s presence. The prayer of examine provides an opportunity both to be grateful for God’s care, but also to repent of the clogged drains of one’s life that keep one from seeing the Father who, when one turns again, looks upon them with eyes of great love.

As you walk in a new season, where might there be a change of attention or activity called for that will promote a greater awareness and responsiveness to the Lord of every season? As you embrace this new season are there activities from the past season that may no longer be appropriate to the new season in which you find yourself? Are there new gifts to be discovered along with some needed maintenance activities to embrace? I pray that you will find in the season of life in which God has you a greater awareness that He accompanies you there with love, grace and power to live well in that new place. Here is a song to further encourage you in the season in which you find yourself. Blessings.