Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder
September 2, 2024
This Week's Anchor
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)
At the beginning of each September, I have a tradition of playing a groovy classic, Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” Over the years, it’s become my anthem for welcoming our transition from summer to fall. In the northeast, September is one of the best weather months. Despite experiencing it repeatedly each year, I am amazed at the evening coolness that seems to set it as soon as the month begins, giving us a gentle reminder that autumn is on its way. Come what may, year to year, it’s as if the seasons know just when to change.
For our anchor scripture this week, we travel back to a beautifully written chapter in Ecclesiastes, which illustrates the awe of our ever-changing life seasons. Many of us are familiar with this passage:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
The first portion of this chapter is often recalled. However, the writer offers additional powerful words that always resonate with me. The writer proclaims that God “has made everything beautiful in its time,” setting “eternity in the human heart” with no one being able to “fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (vs. 11). The writer goes on to grant each of us to “eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God” (v. 12). Reminding us that “everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it” (v. 14). In sum, there are many seasons that we will ebb and flow between throughout our lives. And although we have limited influence on when, how, and where our seasons unfold, each shift and transition from one season to the next is planned and purposed by God. Not only is there a season for everything, but God knows exactly what season to shift in our lives and when exactly to do it.
Despite knowing the reality of our shifting seasons, it can be scary not knowing what a new season might bring or frustrating not knowing when an old and enduring season will change. When we feel challenged by life’s shifting seasons, we can make a note of a few things to encourage us to embrace the seasons we find ourselves in:
Some things that get in the way of embracing our seasons | How we can navigate these barriers |
Our craving for control | Accepting the limited control that we have in our lives As a strong, organized type A personality, it’s humbling to face the fact that planning can only take me so far when it comes to the limited control I truly have in my life. We can intentionally shift our perspective from seeing this limit as restricting to experiencing it as liberating. When we relinquish control to God, we find freedom. |
Our attachment to a given season | Appreciating each season for what it offers and celebrating each season’s purpose As our anchor scripture implies, seasons come and seasons go. Of course, we would all choose to remain in our sunny seasons of blooming blessings if we could. It’s understandable to crave the good seasons; however, holding on tight to a changing season can increase our suffering. We can approach ourselves compassionately as we grieve our shifting seasons and let go. |
Our lack of trust in God | Digging deep to connect with our foundation of faith in God. We can slow down our lives, read His word, and invite the presence of the Holy Trinity, allowing them to be lamps in moments when we question God. |
Forgetting God’s provision in our lives | Intentionally remembering the seasons God has seen us through. What’s interesting is most of us have been here before—In uncharted waters, wondering what our present season will have for us. God has consistently encouraged us that He knows what we need and desire more than we do, and yet, we enter a new season and act as if we’ve forgotten the other seasons God has sustained us through. In the words of Tye Tribett, “If He did it before, He can do it again.” The same God that has brought us through the various seasons in our lives is with us in our current season and will be with us in whatever seasons may come. |
Believing our seasons are isolated | Connecting with the collective humanity of navigating life’s seasons We aren’t the first or last person to go through whatever season we find ourselves in. While we are each unique, which means how we experience life is different, we are in a community of several billion individuals on this earth who are wading through life alongside us. Remembering our collective humanity is humbling but also reassuring that we are not alone in navigating this thing called life. |
As we enjoy the last moments of summer, may we connect with deep gratitude for enduring yet another season. May we bask in each beautiful moment of warmth, light, and laughter that summer has offered many of us. And may we ground ourselves in preparation to embrace the meaningful things that Fall will reveal and teach us. I empower each of us to hold these impactful words as we embrace our seasons:
“There are no trophies in this, but there is beauty in the journey. It’s where you go, it’s where you’ve been, it’s how you moved, it’s when it’s slow. When it’s seen, when you flow, when it hurts, when you’ve sown. What’s left behind, what’s left in time.
It’s how you’ve climbed.”
Reflection
What is resonating for you about this scripture and/or this devotion?
What do you want to be mindful of as you enter this new season?
What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?
Related Scriptures to Ground You Through this Week
Deuteronomy 7:9
Psalm 119:89-91
Proverbs 19:21
Romans 1:19-20
Philippians 4:4-9
James 1:16-18
My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide
A Song of Inspiration
Quote of Love & Liberation
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from,
how you can still come out of it.”
Maya Angelou
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