Submitted by Pastor Brad Dush, Fairfax Methodist Church

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

Most of us are very familiar with these words. You may have heard them growing up in the church, or you may listen to good music . . . or both. The first eight verses of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes is good stuff! It speaks to the seasons of life. I chose just the first three for the moment because they include the season of life we are all very familiar with in Atchison County right now: planting season. MoDOT has signs all over the region to remind drivers to use caution. Those raised in the area know the natural “signs” of the season and don’t need the reminder; however, people not familiar with the rhythms of life in a rural agriculturally based area are unaware of the definitive role the seasons of the year play in our lives.

For the first 20 years of my life, I was unaware of the importance of the seasons of the year and weather play. I grew up in a rural part of Missouri for the time; it has since had an explosion in population. My grandparents had a farm I was raised on; it would be considered by most to be a “hobby farm” by the standards of farms in Northwest Missouri. It wasn’t until I married into a farming family, which was their way of life, that I realized how vital the “time to plant” was. It was a steep learning curve for me. It introduced me to a different rhythm of life, one where the weather was key, and when it was go time, it was go time. There was no putting off till tomorrow what you needed to do today. The rhythm of life for a farmer changes with the season and just because something is one way this week doesn’t mean it will be the same next week or even this same time of the year a year from now.

It really helped hit home for me the Ecclesiastes text and the other agriculture texts in the Scriptures. It impresses upon me the reality we, as Christ’s followers, need to have rhythms in place for our spiritual lives in our walk with the Lord. However, we do not need to be so hard and fast about those rhythms that we let life become frustrating when “weather” events sideline us or unexpected things come up and distract us. The key isn’t that we pray and read the Word at the same time every day. Granted many of us like to keep a schedule, but life happens. The key isn’t reading our Bibles at the same time all the time; the key is we get in the Word. If it is about our schedule it becomes more about us and less about God. I may be alone in this, but I beat myself up when I miss a “scheduled” time with God. It becomes this big personal guilt trip. It is easy to get down on ourselves. I truly think what God is looking for is the consistency of the time we spend with Him, not the exact chronological moment. Life, much like the year, has seasons. There is a time for everything and there are lots of things influencing those times. Be intentional about time spent with God; it is not about when you get it in; what is important is you get it in.