Which is best?

This morning outside my bedroom window I saw the usual leafy-green canopy but something else caught my eye: a branch of bright yellow leaves. Like it or not, fall is coming. I’ve always been a summer girl, but I guess every season has its grandeur, and it’s wise to recognize that.

Lately I’ve been trying to do the same with the seasons of life, recognizing the positives of each stage. Most of us have to fight wanting to be in a season other than the one we’re in, starting with childhood. Which of us didn’t long to be one year older than we always were? The privileges and perks of older ages seemed like carrots in front of a horse, forever just out of reach.

At the other end of years we wish we were young again, facing the future with what we’ve learned in the decades since. Mom used to say, “I’m a 25-year-old trapped in a 90 year old body.” If wishing made it so, she’d have “stuck” at 25.

Why is it so hard to find contentment where we are? The answer is in a great quote I read the other day: “We need to get rid of expectations that don’t fit into this season of life.” It’s all about accurate expectations.

When we’re 45 years old and (as Dad used to say) “running the rat race,” it’s logical our time will be tightly budgeted, we’ll be working long hours, and our commitments will be many. When we’re 85, we’ll have to figure out how to use all the extra time we have. Different seasons require different expectations.

Wise people plan ahead for seasonal changes by figuring out what realistic expectations they should have. Then they think and act accordingly.

All of us have seen people unwilling to admit which life season they belong to. The other day at the beach I saw a woman close to the end of her winter age-season. She was wearing a micro-bikini, and it was difficult not to stare. I wished I could have heard the logic behind her choice of swimwear, but surely it was somehow connected to false expectations.

Scripture has interesting examples of God’s instructions to people in different seasons of life. For example, in Numbers 8 he says, “Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist…. but they themselves must not do the work.” (vv. 24-26)

That wasn’t to say God’s plans for the 50 year olds weren’t good ones though. He was just stating that he expected different things from people in different seasons. It wasn’t about right or wrong, good or bad, superior or inferior but only about different expectations.

As for those yellow leaves outside my window? They hint that a new season is about to arrive. And my expectation is that it’ll be beautiful.