Back to school? The Bible says there's a time for everything...

Bethany (Staines) reflects on the start of the new school year.

There are so many different emotions linked with going back to school: excitement, anticipation, anxiety, peace, or disappointment because summer is over. The latter definitely describes me.

This year, as I move into Year 10 and I begin my GCSEs, there are things that I’m looking forward to, like the history school trip or hopefully going on the Spanish exchange. Yes, I would prefer to live in an endless summer holiday, but unfortunately that is unrealistic.

I hope you’ll see where I’m going with this. In everyone’s lives, there are different seasons that God plans and there are different ways to feel as God calls us into a new season or school year.

As Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 2 say: ‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.’ And so the chapter goes on, listing the different periods God created with intention.

God didn’t make a one-colour monochromatic world, where every day consists of just planting, because the Bible says that there is a time to plant and a time to uproot. Or, to put it into context, God didn’t create a life where every day consists of just Year 3 spelling tests – there is a time for spelling tests, but there is also a time for running around on the field!

God plans seasons with purpose. There is a season of rest – for instance, the school holidays – and a season of work – for example, going back to school. God uses seasons of our lives – school years, particular jobs, relationships, etc – to mould us into the people that he intends us to be.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says: ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’

This confirms that God has a perfect plan for everyone’s life, and he has mapped out each season, each school year, with a purpose. That means that, as we start this new academic year, no matter how much we will miss the last season or last school year, we can trust God. As we move into the next season of our lives, he will be with us through whatever he has planned.

Reflect and respond

• Read Ecclesiastes 3 and consider where God has put you in your life.
• What is God calling you to do as a new term begins?