[rating:4.0]
( Colorado Springs:Multnomah Press, 2012)
257 pgs
You understand that I will have to be careful how I review this book as my job could be in jeopardy! Nonetheless, after reading this book in two sittings, I feel an honest report of my reactions for this website would be helpful to the members. Please feel free to share your opinions as well when you have a chance.
First of all, looking at the title, I was not sure I was ready to read about how I should be winding down my ministry in the twilight years of my life, thinking that at 50, perhaps my best contributions may have already been made, and I was now heading into the slow decline of winter. But it quickly became clear that this book is not about four seasons in a person’s life (regardless of their vocation or age), it is about a constant cycle of seasons that are a natural part of our life at every level. There are seasons with our children, with our jobs, with our interests, in our marriage, and in our ministry. We may have worked at one job for several years, then find we have lost interest or need a new challenge – that job may have come full circle for us going through the excitement of new beginnings, growth, plateau, and stable predictability, and now it is time for a Spring time in a new job with a new challenge. Our children move from dependent toddlers to independent teenagers – another season in our life ends, and a new relationship with our children is now required.
The point that stood out most clearly to me was that many people are not aware that there are seasons in the various aspects of our life. Nor are they able to necessarily identify which season they may be in at the time. Thinking you are in a winter time of rest and recuperation when you really are in a summer time of growth and great expenditure of energy could be disastrous. I have worked with leaders over the years who took off for an extended vacation just at the wrong time every year and came back having to play catch up in ministry finding many frustrated people demanding their attention. They thought they needed the break just before the mayhem began, but the truth is they would not have had mayhem in the first place had they done better planning ahead of time and done the hard work necessary to have things running smoothly when they returned.
Other leaders wonder why their church or business is not growing like they think it should, but they have just come through a major growth spurt and the body needs time to regroup, retool, and refocus before moving ahead to another level. Constant growth without rejuvenation leads to instability and burnout.
Another point that caught my attention is that things actually need to die, to rest, to have quiet, reflective times in order for there to be another Spring. Those who never do self-reflection and evaluation are doomed to burn out and struggle through life always fighting against themselves and their inadequacies rather than dealing with them, growing through them and moving on. Sometimes ministries need to die if they have served their purposes well and accomplished what they were designed to do. Those who keep certain programs year after year after year for the sake of tradition miss this point. Let the program die. Start up something new and exciting rather than flogging something old and past its time.
Richard also points out that not everyone is going to be at the same place in their life that you are, and particularly within a church body, there are those in every stage. The challenge is helping those in their Spring time looking for something new to respect and honor those who are in the winter of their life who need something familiar and comforting to hold on to.
Richard shares great perspectives from his many travels and interactions with leaders around the world. His insights are on target and his advice is sage to those who will listen. The writing is filled with anecdotes and stories as well as honest, clear observations of life the way God intended it to be.
The Seasons of God shows the natural order of things and is a book we should embrace and a tool we should use now so that we can truly enjoy the one life we were given. We do have the option to fight against God’s design, gnarl our teeth at the inevitable, or struggle to hold on to things that we should have let go of years before, and many do that, perhaps out of fear of the future. But others embrace the future, look to the new things with excitement and anticipation, and get the most out of what God has provided each day, not waiting for the “one day” that may never come.
Buy the book. Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee, kick off your shoes, relax, and enjoy a thoughtful read that will surely cause you to take pause and reflect, and offer perspectives on your own life and ministry that you may not have ever considered before.
by Tom Blackaby