How to do well in every season of life
Viki Taylor,
23rd Jul 2018
Tags:
Life
Blog
Anxiety
Challenges
Jesus
I’ve often been asked this question: "What’s your favourite season?’
I like to weigh up all my options. Summer is hot and everyone’s happier, but then winter has Christmas. Autumn is pretty and there’s lots of bonfires, but spring has an abundance of flowers. I can never choose my favourite. I think I’ve learnt to love all the seasons.
I wish I could say the same for the ‘seasons of my life’.
Life is full of different seasons at different ages.
Life is full of different seasons at different ages. When I was 13, I went through a season of growing and a season of isolation, struggling with bullying and being just a bit weird. When I was 15, I went through a season filled with anxiety about everything: relationships, the future, my health, and family. When I was 17, I went through a season of freedom. This is when I realised what Christianity was, and what it wasn’t. When I was 19, I went through a season of intense growing, learning more about myself than I ever had before. Now I’m 21, and I’m in a season of waiting and patience.
I don’t love all the seasons of life in the same way as I love the seasons in the year.
Bluntly put, I don’t love all the seasons of life in the same way as I love the seasons in the year.
But when I reflect back on my life, and think about all the seasons I have been through, there is a considerable difference between Viki pre-17 years old, and Viki post-17.
It’s not that I reached some kind of height of maturity by the age of 17, had some kind of epiphany or ‘found myself’. The difference was that before 17, in every season, I was in it alone. Yes, I had my family, yes I had my friends (most of the time), but there was always a fear of vulnerability and the question of ‘what if’?
What if I told my mum I was being picked on, and she didn’t believe me?
What if I tell my friends I’m getting counselling for anxiety, and they think I’m crazy?
What if I’m honest and then get outcast?
There was always a reservation. Until 17. Until I met a guy who changed everything. He was literally perfect. Not in the swept back hair, flawless skin, 6ft and handsome kind of way, but in the ‘I’ll accept you, flaws and all kind of way’. In the ‘I accept your anxiety’, ‘I accept your weirdness’, ‘I accept the outcasts’ kinda way.
He offered me something no-one else had: full acceptance, joy in all circumstances, and love in every season.
He wasn’t too well known at my school. Lots of people had heard of him, but not many really got what he was about. Gradually I did though. He offered me something no-one else had: full acceptance, joy in all circumstances, and love in every season.
His name is Jesus.
It was then that in every season, whatever happened, I was not alone.
Even if I felt outcast, I was not alone.
Even if I felt outcast, I was not alone.
Even if my family let me down, I was not alone.
Even if my future was uncertain, I was not alone.
My season right now is a waiting game and I’m learning what patience looks like more than ever. I don’t love every minute of it, sometimes it’s frustrating and I feel ready to jump into the next season. But the difference now is that I have Jesus, and though the seasons change, his love remains.
Knowing Jesus didn’t guarantee that every season would be easy, but he did guarantee that he’d stay with me.
Knowing Jesus didn’t guarantee that every season would be easy, but he did guarantee that he’d stay with me, and with him I can have joy in every moment. Who else can guarantee that?
