In this monologue‑style episode of the Living in Your Power podcast, Dr. Marleen Greenleaf expands on her September series “The Wisdom of the Season.” Using Ecclesiastes 3:1 as a scriptural anchor, she frames life’s phases as seasons—some comfortable, some difficult—and invites listeners to pause and ask, “What is this season teaching me?” She explains that challenging seasons surface hidden trust issues, boundary needs, untapped strengths, and can reveal what we truly need versus what we think we need. Greenleaf warns against applying the expectations of one season to another, noting that impatience, frustration, and comparison arise when we try to force a season to behave like a previous one. She emphasizes self‑leadership: paying attention to the present season’s unique requirements—whether patience, courage, rest, or release—and responding with appropriate boundaries and intentional actions. The episode concludes with a set of reflective prompts for listeners to assess their current season, identify resistance, and discern what the season is asking of them. Greenleaf also previews the next episode, which will explore what to gather and what to leave behind as seasons change, reinforcing the idea that not every lesson travels forward. The overall message is that every season, even the uncomfortable ones, carries wisdom and growth potential if we remain attentive, prayerful, and willing to learn.
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Well, hello, my valued listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Living in Your Power. I'm your host, Dr. Marleen Greenleaf, and as always, I am truly grateful that you have chosen to spend this time with me today. Now, as we continue our September series, The Wisdom of the Season, recognizing what this season is teaching you, Now last week we talked about paying attention to what is growing. We reminded ourselves that growth isn't always immediately visible and that sometimes the most important evidence of growth isn't happening around us. It's happening within us. Now today, today I want to take that conversation a little deeper. Because every season of our lives has something to teach us. Some seasons are joyful, some are difficult. Some feel productive, others feel painfully slow. Some seasons bring clarity, and others seem to leave us with more questions than answers. But what if instead of immediately labeling a season as good or bad, we paused long enough to ask, what is this season teaching me? So today's episode, the second in our September series, is titled Every Season Has Something to Teach Us. Every season has something to teach us, so let's dive in. Now, if we could choose the seasons of our lives, I imagine most of us would select the comfortable ones, right? The seasons when things are working, when prayers are being answered, when opportunities are arriving, when relationships feel good and when we can clearly see progress. I mean, those seasons are wonderful. But life also gives us seasons we wouldn't choose. The waiting season, the uncertainty, disappointments, transition, loss, starting over season, being stretched beyond what feels comfortable. And when we are in one of those seasons, our first instinct is often, how quickly can I get out of this? I mean, we want the answer, the breakthrough, the next opportunity, the resolution. We want things to feel normal again. But sometimes our determination to get through a season Prevents us from receiving what the season is trying to give us. Because difficult seasons can reveal things comfortable seasons never could. I mean, they reveal what we truly trust. They expose what needs attention. They show us where our boundaries need strengthening. They teach us what matters. And they introduced us to strengths we didn't know we had. And sometimes, sometimes they teach us that something we thought we needed, we can actually live without. That, my dear listeners, that's wisdom. Now, not necessarily wisdom we would have chosen to gain this way. But wisdom nonetheless. Now, our scripture for today is from Ecclesiastes 3:1, New King James Version, and it reads, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Very familiar text, I know, for many of us. I mean, I love the reminder in this That seasons are part of life. To everything there is a season. A season, not forever. Now that's important because when we're in a difficult place, it can feel permanent. I mean, we start thinking, shoot, is this how things are going to be now? But seasons change. And because they change, each one carries an invitation. There are seasons for building, seasons for resting, seasons for speaking, seasons for listening, seasons for expanding, seasons for simplifying. Seasons for planting and seasons for gathering. The problem comes when we expect every season to produce the same thing. We become frustrated when a season of rest doesn't look productive. We become impatient when a season of preparation doesn't look like advancement. We become discouraged when a season of planting doesn't yet look like harvest. But perhaps, perhaps we are measuring the season by the wrong expectations. Now listen to this: if God is using this season to develop patience, I mean, maybe its purpose isn't speed. If He's developing discernment within us, perhaps, perhaps the questions are part of Of the process. If he's teaching you to rest, then perhaps doing more isn't the answer. Wisdom, wisdom is recognizing what the season requires. And this is where self-leadership becomes important, because sometimes we exhaust ourselves trying to force one season to behave like another. I mean, we compare today's capacity with yesterday's. We expect ourselves to produce at the same level even though our circumstances have changed. We keep saying yes when the current season requires boundaries. We keep pushing when the current season requires recovery. Or we keep waiting when the current season is actually calling us to move. Living intentionally means paying attention, dear listeners. And what does this season require? I mean, not last year's season, not someone else's season, this one, the season that we are currently in. And maybe, maybe this season requires courage. Maybe it requires patience. Maybe it requires you to learn something new. Maybe it requires you to become more visible. Maybe it requires you to step back. Maybe it requires you to ask for support. Mm-hmm. Maybe, maybe it requires you to finally release something you've been carrying far too long. And here's the difficult part. Sometimes we don't understand what a season was teaching us until after we've walked through it. And that's, that's okay too, because there are lessons we recognize only in hindsight. I mean, we can look back and we realize, oh, that's why I needed that boundary, or That's where I learned to trust myself. What about— That's when I stopped needing everyone's approval. That's when my faith became stronger. That's when I learned that a closed door could actually be productive— protection, I'm sorry. I mean, we couldn't see it while we were in it, but now, now we can. And that's the wisdom of the season. So let's return to today's scripture again. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Notice that word purpose. Even when we don't understand the season, we can remain open to what it may be developing in us. So instead of only asking, When will this be over? Perhaps we can also ask, what am I meant to learn while I'm here in this season? So take a few moments this week and reflect on these as your empowerment prompt. How would I describe the season I'm currently in? Have I been resisting this season because it doesn't look the way I expected? What might God be asking me to strengthen, release, learn, or trust? Am I expecting something from this season that it was never meant to produce? What wisdom do I want to carry with me when this season changes? And here's the question I'd especially like you to sit with. What does this season require of me? Not what does everyone else expect from me. Not what did the previous season require. But what does this season require? So listen carefully to the answer. Okay? So now in closing, my friends, I want you to remember that every season won't feel good. Every season won't make sense while you're living through it. And every season won't produce the outcome you expected. But that doesn't mean the season has nothing to give you. There may be wisdom here. There may be strength developing here. There may be something you're learning to release. There may be something you're finally learning to receive. There may even be a version of you emerging that could only have been developed through what this season required. So, so don't rush past— don't rush past the lesson because you are anxious for the next chapter. Pay attention. Stay prayerful. Stay curious and trust that when the season changes, as seasons always do, you can leave it carrying wisdom you didn't have when you entered. So I want to thank you for joining me for episode 2 of our September series, The Wisdom of the Season: Recognizing What This Season Is Teaching Us. Next week, we'll continue with Know What to Gather and What to Leave Behind. Because everything we learn in one season isn't necessarily meant to travel with us into the next. Some things become wisdom, and some, some things we need to finally put down. So until next time, I want you to continue to live boldly in your power today, and if it gets tough, just breathe. You still got the strength to rise. So until next time, continue to live in your power. Thank you, Marleen.
