“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
When we learn to accept that God purposes our lives to go through different seasons, it’s easier for us to understand every winter or spring that comes our way. We learn to be grateful in every situation because we know how to get the blessings out of every season. Like a farmer, he knows already, before he even starts planting, that he will encounter these seasons, so he prepares himself and applies what he knows when the season comes.
A farmer’s knowledge can provide us different perspectives about life and business.
We must learn to cultivate every seed we have. We must know what is our sweet spot. We must learn to recognize our God-given talents and abilities and how we can use them effectively for His glory. Invest in ourselves for personal growth and development and find an opportunity to use these gifts to impact the lives of many.
We must learn how to till the soil before we can expect the harvest, which means we need to work hard. Everything we do if we want to see the fruit of our labor requires commitment and persistence. This could mean we need to work more on ourselves, gain more know-how to work smarter in our business, in our ministries, in our relationships or in our goals.
We need to learn how to water what we have planted. In business and in life, there will be people that we will meet in the process and build relationships with. We need to know how to take care not only about our business, our project, our products or our services, our ministries, but more importantly, we need to take care of the people around us. Like plants that need sunlight and water, we need to care for their welfare.
We need to allow room for growth. We need to accept that it may take time to grow a tree or a plant. We cannot speed up the process as every living thing has already been ordained by God to grow in a specific time in order for it to bear good fruit or to bloom into beautiful flowers. It takes time for investors to be convinced to provide the seed capital, for business startups to flourish, for an employee to get that promotion, for salespeople to crack a good deal, for ministries to grow, to raise funds for a church building project, for us to reach any goals we desire. Be patient. Everything has a season.
We must anticipate ahead that what we have planted will be faced with different challenges. Storms may come, pestilence may invade the field, or crops may not grow as we planned, this should not come as a surprise to a farmer. In business and in life, we will face all sorts of trials – economic recession, inflation, death of loved ones, divorce, addictions, debts, etc. We must be well prepared to stand against the tormentor and trust our Almighty Creator that He will be with us in all those ordeals.
We must enjoy the fruit of our labor. God also allows us to have fun and reap the rewards of our hard work. When it’s time for harvest, we must enjoy it. We must also treat ourselves and make time for our families, enjoy vacations, go on retreats and other fun activities to keep us recharged. We must also not forget to give back to God the fraction of our labor and share the rest of the fruits to others. He did not just allow us to be blessed but also to be a blessing to others.
Finally, to succeed in business and in life, we must learn how to embrace the seasons of life. Adam Sicinski espoused the idea of Four Seasons of Transformation designed to guide us through these rhythms and cycles of life.
• Summer: A season for reward, celebration, and fulfillment;
• Autumn: A season for survival, mistakes, and problems;
• Winter: A season for reflection, hibernation, and planning; and
• Spring: A season for learning, opportunity and dynamic thinking.
These cycles were designed by God for a specific purpose, everything has a role to play in the overall process of growth. Similarly, the seasons in our business and in life are considered as blessings in disguise. When we learn how to embrace these seasons, we know what kind of preparation we need to make. We will learn to be forgiving because mistakes and problems are part of the process to make us stronger. We will know when to seize opportunities and leverage them. We will recognize that we should not fight the storms that come our way because they will build our character and make us better people. There’s nothing in our business nor in our life here on earth that will last forever, because it is only there for a season.
Trust in God’s Wisdom. He knows that as we learn to embrace the seasons of life, going through each cycle, this will help us grow into the person God intends us to be.
God bless you.
Author: Charlotte Ibanez is a legal and compliance expert helping SMEs set up and grow their businesses. She is also a career strategist, corporate trainer, writer, blogger and passionate in making God known in the business world. Her educational background includes a Master of Law in Michigan State University College of Law and a Certified Balanced Scorecard Professional at George Washington University. She is married and a mother to two kids. Reach Charlotte: https://lhotteibanez.wixsite.com/seedoflife