“As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” (Genesis 8:22)
We have four seasons where I live. Almost winter, winter, STILL winter, and construction! My favorite season is fall….I love football, jeans and hoodies, bonfires and s’mores, and the kids go back to school! (Mwuahahaha!) But, alas, my favorite season is being pushed out by winter. We have snow now. And it’s cold!
I think God gives us pictures of things in this natural world to help us understand things in His world. And seasons is one of those things. We can’t control them….and we can’t change them. Every season has things we look forward to and some things we complain about the whole season long.
At the end of March we think, “Boy I can’t wait for spring. I know it rains a lot, but at least you don’t have to shovel it!” At the end of Spring it’s, “Summer might be HOT, but bring it on. I can’t take the rain.” In July we are saying, “OMG! This heat and humidity are INSANE! Fall may be rainy, but bring on the cooler temps.” And in the middle of October, we can’t wait for that first snowfall. And then in March….well, you get the picture.
Every season has a purpose. If we didn’t have the rain in spring, the ground wouldn’t be ready to receive the seed. If we didn’t have the sun and heat and humidity in summer, the seed wouldn’t grow. In the fall, we get to harvest the seed and prepare for the dead months of winter. But if we didn’t have those dead months….those months where the snow blankets everything and it all just lies dormant and looks useless, the ground wouldn’t be rested to receive the seed again in the spring.
Every season has a purpose….even the parts of the season we hate. Even the seasons that look dead…..dormant……like nothing is being accomplished and you just wish it would hurry up and be over.
We NEED every season in our life. The memories of the “favorite” seasons help bring us through the dead and dormant and dark seasons. I have had some highs…..my wedding, the births of my kids, some of my favorite trips, the abundant joyful years. I have had some seasons that looked dead…the loss of my brother, loss of jobs, and some years that seemed like a wasteland that are too personal to mention by name. But looking back, I wouldn’t change them…any of them.
Really? Why? You want to know? Because in those times, I got so much closer to Him. To the One who never leaves….and He truly never left. There are things you learn in the desert times you just can’t learn on the mountain tops. There is a bonding that comes with walking through a tragedy that just won’t come any other way. Does He cause them? NO WAY! Does He use them? Absolutely! He turns ashes into beauty. He just does.
Some of you are in the middle of July….it’s warm and sunny and wonderful. Some of you might be at the end of March. It’s been a cold and weary winter with long dark nights and cold dreary days….and you are mad at the groundhog for seeing his stinkin’ shadow! Will this ever end?
If you are weary and tired, take heart….seasons always change. Even though it looks like there is no end in sight, Spring truly is right around the corner — everything that looks dead and dormant now will bud and spring back to life. Keep holding on to Him, and He will show you the purpose in this season and walk you through to new life and joy! Hang tight! The seasons…they are a-changin’! Of this, you can be sure!
We went through fire and through water, but You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air]. (Psalm 66:12)