The Reason for the Season
When people use the phrase "the reason for the season," they are most
likely referring to Christmas, remembering the fact that the holiday is to be
about Jesus' birth. Though this is true, "the reason for the season" I am
referring to is one of a different sort. I am currently entering the end of a
season: My junior year in college. I have had many things to reflect upon.
There have been 365 days where not one day was exactly the same. There
have been weeks where the sun felt like it was constantly shining, and
happiness came naturally. There have also been days or weeks clustered
together in a conglomeration of negative experiences, trials, and lessons.
If there is anything that I can glean from these experiences over the last year,
it is that no season is exactly the same. Each one is unique in its own timing,
length, and ultimately, the lesson that it teaches. Though not all seasons are
positive, there is a purpose for each one - thus, my new meaning to the phrase
"the reason for the season."
In this, I am reminded of the story of Esther, and how she had been through many seasons of her own. She was raised by her cousin, Mordecai, after the death of her parents. At the time of Queen Vashti’s banishment, she was probably very comfortable with her life. But, God had other plans for Esther. She was taken, along with many other girls, into the harem of the king with no contact with her cousin or the outside world. For one full year, Esther was in the king’s harem, uncertain of her future. Being taken from her family and her home was not the best of circumstances, yet there was a reason for each season that she was in. She found favor with the king, and was granted Vashti’s place, yet her story was not finished. We read in Esther chapter 4, where it is presented to Esther that in the midst of the Jewish people’s oppression, that perhaps she was called to the kingdom “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
Esther is not the only character in the Bible who went through season after season of ups and downs. Indeed, the nature of life is that it waxes and wanes. But in this, we have the hope that whatever our season, there is a greater purpose for it.
likely referring to Christmas, remembering the fact that the holiday is to be
about Jesus' birth. Though this is true, "the reason for the season" I am
referring to is one of a different sort. I am currently entering the end of a
season: My junior year in college. I have had many things to reflect upon.
There have been 365 days where not one day was exactly the same. There
have been weeks where the sun felt like it was constantly shining, and
happiness came naturally. There have also been days or weeks clustered
together in a conglomeration of negative experiences, trials, and lessons.
If there is anything that I can glean from these experiences over the last year,
it is that no season is exactly the same. Each one is unique in its own timing,
length, and ultimately, the lesson that it teaches. Though not all seasons are
positive, there is a purpose for each one - thus, my new meaning to the phrase
"the reason for the season."
In this, I am reminded of the story of Esther, and how she had been through many seasons of her own. She was raised by her cousin, Mordecai, after the death of her parents. At the time of Queen Vashti’s banishment, she was probably very comfortable with her life. But, God had other plans for Esther. She was taken, along with many other girls, into the harem of the king with no contact with her cousin or the outside world. For one full year, Esther was in the king’s harem, uncertain of her future. Being taken from her family and her home was not the best of circumstances, yet there was a reason for each season that she was in. She found favor with the king, and was granted Vashti’s place, yet her story was not finished. We read in Esther chapter 4, where it is presented to Esther that in the midst of the Jewish people’s oppression, that perhaps she was called to the kingdom “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
Esther is not the only character in the Bible who went through season after season of ups and downs. Indeed, the nature of life is that it waxes and wanes. But in this, we have the hope that whatever our season, there is a greater purpose for it.
