Leanne Mallett

Are you ready for a new season?

Lockdown has been tough, but it can inspire change and allow you to leave behind what was slowing you down

When we hear the word ‘season’ we may think straight away of the four periods of the year, or a particular time for sport, or even relate it to a specific time in our own lives. What we all have come to realise is that ‘seasons’ come and go. It’s a period of time that soon passes into another.

We have all been in a ‘season’ lately that none of us expected or planned for, and even though we are not yet out of the other side, we are all hopeful that it won’t be too long.

Many of us have learned lessons through this time and encountered experiences that we have never been through before. They may have been painful, but also times that have marked a significant change in our lives that has benefitted us in some way.

It’s always important to look for the good in any season even though that might be difficult for some, especially if there has been a loss of a loved one, job, finances, or stability.

Before Covid arrived it seemed life was going at too fast a pace for many of us. Then came lockdown, and we found ourselves suddenly taking a pause from everything, with space to really assess life afresh.

However frustrating this time may have been, it has made us stop and evaluate; a time to look at the things we had previously prioritised; to reflect on where we are, and where we are heading. For some, spending more time with family is something we didn’t realise we needed, or missed, until now. For many, it’s been a time of refocusing; a time to filter out the distractions that have crept in and to concentrate on what is important in life.

I’d like to think that we will soon walk into a brand new season. Personally, I want to take with me those lessons learned in this current one. To take with me those people and things in my life that really matter, and leave behind those things, mindsets, and attitudes that were unknowingly slowing me down on my journey.

The third chapter of Ecclesiastes talks about the different seasons in our lives; that there is a time for everything. In verse three the Bible says there is a ‘time to tear down and a time to build’.

I wonder whether through this time we can look at the things in our lives that we need to ‘tear down’; and the things we ‘built’ or concentrated on that actually didn’t need constructing in the first place. These can often be in our own mindsets, and not necessarily physical.

Let's concentrate now on those things that God wants us to keep building; even things we need to ‘build’ and construct afresh.

After lockdown, we have an opportunity to embrace a new way of doing things, not only in our churches but in our own personal lives as well.

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