Today our Saturday Spotlight is from
One of our missionaries is Southeast Asia
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In Every Season.
Here in the tropical rain forest, we don’t experience the four “traditional” seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. But we do experience cycles of rainy and dry seasons throughout the year. I’ve learned that each season—whether rainy or dry— has its pros and cons, and each is unique and valuable for different reasons.
During rainy seasons, for example, our rainwater tank stays nice and full at our house (so we can flush our toilet and take showers without worrying about running out of water); boat travel is easier; and our village friends usually come back with great catches from their fishing trips (because the muddy water from frequent rain makes for excellent fishing conditions!) Rain is also essential for enabling rice crops to grow. But too much rain can become a hardship—filling boats with water overnight, impeding work in the fields, preventing the sun from drying laundry on lines outside, and sometimes even causing flooding.
On the flip side, during dry seasons, the sun shines bright and hot all day, allowing everyone to dry their laundry outside and sun other things (such as rice before it is hulled, and a certain type of tree leaf folks here sell, etc.); the river is beautifully clear and low (great for nighttime spear-fishing, if you like that sort of thing!); the sunsets are extra colorful each evening; and the cloudless nighttime skies are brilliantly studded with bright, shining stars! A significant dry season during the summer months is essential for drying & burning rice fields to prepare them for planting. And yet, during dry seasons, we have to be careful about conserving the water in our water tank (which means bathing and doing laundry at the river); boat travel is also harder (sometimes you have to get out and pull the boat through shallow areas in the river); and the equatorial heat can feel especially oppressive.
Different seasons. Different pros and cons. Each requires adjustments in different ways. Each is unique and valuable for different reasons. I think the same could be said about the seasons of our lives as believers. God walks us through different seasons—some more exciting and encouraging, some harder and seemingly less outwardly profitable, some requiring more adjustment and discomfort—but each unique, valuable, and needed, because each comes to us through God’s loving, sovereign hand, for our good and for His glory.
I think “humbling” would be an accurate descriptor of the season God has been walking me through this past year, as I’ve transitioned from focusing on language study to Bible translation, and also entered my 40’s! The biggest “pro” during this season is that… I am being humbled! Because growing in humility is always a good thing. And the biggest “con” is that… I am being humbled! 
Because being humbled isn’t terribly fun or comfortable—but it is very valuable and needed. So I am thanking the Lord for this season and the lessons He is teaching me in it.
One of those lessons that he is currently teaching me (and will surely continue to teach me for the rest of my life!) is to simply “Remember the Gospel.” Remember the Gospel, right here, right now, in the nitty-gritty of everyday life. Remember the Gospel—and live like it’s true! For me, that has looked like:
• When I mess up…remembering the Gospel: In Christ, I am fully known and fully loved. His grace is what saved me, and His grace is what keeps me secure. I have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. So, I can stand secure in God’s love for me and admit my own weaknesses and sin, before God and others—without dying of shame in the process or trying to cover up my mistakes.
• When I get correction or criticism from others…remembering the Gospel: I am a fallible human, but my security is in the infallible Christ. My hope is in Christ’s perfection, not my own! So, I can receive correction and criticism, ask God what he wants to teach me from it, and grow— instead of just being crushed or defensive or offended.
• When I am struggling to love people around me…remembering the Gospel: I am a deeply loved child of God who knows the compassionate gaze of my heavenly Father! (Seriously, just let that sink in for a minute!) So, I can love others deeply and compassionately—just as I have been loved.
• When I am hurt by others…remembering the Gospel: I’ve been forgiven of ALL my sins and showered with limitless grace from God! So, I can extend grace and forgiveness to others—just as I have been forgiven.
• When I am feeling anxious or fearful…remembering the Gospel: The Creator of the universe sent his son to die for me and pay the penalty for my sins. No matter what happens, I have Christ, and my eternal salvation is secure. So I can cast my anxieties and fears on him—trusting that He is holding the world together, and He will always care for me.
I still have a long way to go in this process of learning to remember the Gospel and live like it’s true in every moment of my life—just ask my teammates! But I am confident that God will continue to be faithful to give me opportunities to practice this daily remembering, in whatever season he has me in. So here’s to preaching the gospel to ourselves—and whoever God has around us—in every season. And trusting Him to press the beautiful, powerful truths of His Gospel deeper and deeper into our hearts, changing everything, one day at a time.
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