Songs and Seasons

From as far back as I can remember, music and song have been a part of my life. Hearing a song can instantly transport me to a specific memory—to people, places, and even the emotions I was feeling at the time. Infamous teenage breakup songs, love songs, unrequited love songs, and childhood TV theme songs can still evoke a sense of nostalgia when I hear them played.

Growing up, my dad was a radio DJ, so we always had records around the house playing on the stereo. My dad and stepmom were also talented singers and musicians. They started a band that played at local events around the county, and my sisters, brother, and I spent many evenings listening to them practice for their shows. This meant we heard the same songs over and over again.

One of the songs they sang was “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the 1960s band The Byrds. That song drove me crazy. I cringed every time I heard it. As a young, late elementary aged kid, the words were meaningless and confusing. Why in the world would you want to sing about a time to hate or a time to kill?!

The lyrics for the song are taken directly from Solomon’s song/poem in Ecclesiastes 3:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.(KJV)

As I read these words now, they land very differently on my heart and mind. I have lived through many of these seasons, and I can instantly be transported back in memory to those days. I can reminisce about the happy years of falling in love, but I also remember the pain of parting with friends. I remember the joy of becoming a mom and holding my little boys as they grew up, but I can also feel the sadness of grieving the deaths of both my Mom and Dad. I remember planting countless flowers in my yard, only to watch the deer eat them or the weather kill them.

While we would all prefer a life filled with joy and free from pain, every year of life brings with it some combination of the two. That is a hard reality to understand. Many people struggle with the belief that if God is good, He should only allow good things into our lives and never allow painful circumstances. If you have ever read the entire book of Ecclesiastes, you may recognize that Solomon wrestles with this same tension.

In the seasons when we have a sense of love and peace, surrounded by the happy sounds of family and close friends, it is easy to feel as though all is right with the world. The days are full, and our hearts are content with all that our senses can take in. It is often in those seasons that our hearts begin to lean toward the things of this world, and our walk with God becomes more complacent.

Instead of following God’s leading and seeking His plans for our days, we can relegate Him to little more than a passenger we carry along in the back seat.

But then the seasons turn, and the lightness of life gives way to heaviness. Joy is covered by grief and sorrow. Silence pervades the days and nights, and dreams fall away unfulfilled. It is in these hard seasons that I realize I have allowed distance to grow between God and me.

Yet He is still there.

Patiently waiting for me to remember Him in the back seat.

If you read more of the book of Ecclesiastes, you will find a great deal of weariness and frustration in Solomon’s words. In the first chapter, he declares, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Time after time, he describes life as “striving after the wind.”

Trying to order our lives according to our own understanding of happiness, security, and satisfaction will never truly fulfill our hearts’ desire. No matter how much we accomplish or acquire, we will always be left empty and

wanting.

My life is a picture perfect example of this cycle of good seasons → contentment → complacency → turning toward the things of the world → difficult seasons → realizing how far you've drifted → discovering that God never left. There have been many peaks and many valleys that I have come through.

I am so appreciative that God allowed me to suffer through me to suffer through a few “training wheel” hard seasons. While I was in them, they were rough and painful, but each season slowly turned my countenance back to Him. I learned that the deeper I grow in my knowledge of God through His Word, the deeper I grow in my love for Him. And the deeper I grow in my love of God, the more I trust Him and allow Him to determine my steps. Jesus and John both describe this beautiful state of abiding—remaining in Him and allowing His life to become the source of ours.

The last five years have been filled with some of the hardest seasons of my life. But because I had those earlier years of learning to hold on to God and trust that all things remain under His sovereignty, I was able to weather the stormy days intact. My losses were many, but through each day, I knew Who was in control. I had a secure anchor that would hold me through the season of pain. As Hebrews reminds us, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:19)

Life will continue to turn the pages from one season to the next. There will be times to laugh and times to weep, times to celebrate and times to mourn. I cannot choose the season that comes next, but I can choose where I will place my trust when it arrives.

And perhaps that is what I understand now that I could never have understood as a little girl listening to “Turn! Turn! Turn!” over and over again.

There is a season for everything.

And through every season, God is still there.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28