Navigating Life in Two Seasons: Help for the Waiting Soul
/The temps in Southern California today will reach 80+. The calendar says autumn, but the weather says summer….sort of.
This is typical fall weather here: warm, sunny days, but the mornings are chilly with cool evenings. I had to turn on the heater for the first time this week to knock the chill out of the house. But when I got dressed, I had to take into account that while chilly in the morning the sweater I’d layered over my chambray shirt would need to be taken off before mid-day. I might also add that I’m wearing sandals…in November.
Living in two seasons is like that. And it’s just something that comes with the territory when living in sunny Southern California.
But what about when you are in between seasons in your soul? There’s no bringing an extra sweater when it’s get chilly or removing a layer when the trials of life get too hot.
So what is one to do when you’re stuck between “waiting for” and “not having”?
I’m currently in between seasons so I know it well. Prayers have been uttered on bended knee before a great big God. Still no manifestation of what was uttered in faith. Maybe that’s you too today?
Praying for the plus sign on the pregnancy test.
Going before God’s throne for the salvation of a loved one.
Requesting God to help you through the fog of depression.
Prayers spoken but answers not seen yet. The land of in-between is a hard place to be. I think of road trips from Southern to Northern California. I’ve driven the route more times than I can count. Six hours of open roads, most of it through Central California on the 5 freeway where farm lands stretches far and wide. No scenery, just dirt for miles. Most of the drive looks like a no-man’s land. But if you look close enough, there are crops in the ground being formed into sustenance.
Most of our in-between time is like that: prayers planted in faith with no results in sight. I think of my oldest son. His 3DS broke a few months back. He’s been asking for a one and praying every night for God to replace the broken game console with a new one. Just two weeks ago, my husband came into some extra money and was able to purchase it for him. Thing is, our son doesn’t know that a new 3DS XL is already purchased and waiting to be given to him on his birthday in less than two weeks on November 16. (He's getting more than what he even asked for with the XL version).
In the early days of the 3DS breaking, he cried, whined and complained. We had a talk about the best results for getting what you want. I told him prayers to God in faith would be more productive than all the whining. So he changed his attitude and did something surprising: he cleared a place on his dresser for his new 3DS and said nothing would go there until he got what he was praying for. Then every night instead of praying for the 3DS, he started thanking God that He already had what he’d asked for.
Such great lessons for surviving life in two seasons.
- Stop whining and complaining.
- Change your attitude
- Expect what you’ve asked for
- Change petitions to thanksgiving.
Faith in God is the bridge over the land of in-between. Walking over that bridge may look like laying out your interview clothes for the job interview that hasn’t even happened yet like my friend Tondra did when she closed down her in-home daycare and ventured back into the workplace. Walking over the bridge may look like buying baby clothes after the doctor tells you that you will never have children due to complications, which is a what another friend of mine did. Today she is the mother of a beautiful daughter.
Don’t wallow in the waiting. Put your faith to work for you and watch the season change.
