Seasons of Life

The days are growing shorter and darker. Temperatures are falling and the final warm, sunny days seem to have disappeared forever. Leaves are turning from lush summer green to reds and browns before falling to cover the ground. We have definitely arrived at autumn.

I love the seasons. Whenever I’m asked which my favourite season is, I can never decide. There are things I love about each season, but there are also the negatives. Autumn brings a beautiful diversity of colour to the trees, and the satisfying crunch of leaves beneath your feet as you walk; but it also brings the darker, colder days I have already mentioned. When winter comes, we get the beauty that a white world of snow can bring, but also the cold, the danger of driving in snow, and more darkness than light. Spring then arrives, and we are greeted by the new life in the fields, the beautiful spring flowers, and the days growing longer; but we also face the regular rain. And then summer, with the long, occasionally hot, summer days; but then you get sunburn, especially if you are as pale as me!

 

There is a tree outside DHQ that I have the perfect view of from my desk, and I have been enjoying watching the changes that autumn is bringing to it. It reminds me that we all go through seasons in our own lives. These may not be cyclical, like the seasons of our world, but we will experience them all at some point in our lives.

The autumns of our life are those times when things come to an end; leaving school or university, the end of a job, moving home, etc. and we begin to prepare for the change. It can be a time of beauty, just like the changing colours of the leaves, but it can also be a time of uncertainty, and the days can seem to be growing darker around us. But we need to remember that God is there with us and supporting us through this.

The winters are the times of hardship, pain, and loss, when we feel that all the pleasure of life has drained away. We can become cold and lifeless to those around us, but these times can be when God makes us fresh for a new start. Just like the snow can make everything look pure and fresh, God does the same through us.

Spring brings new growth in our lives, and we find ourselves starting new things. God gives us the opportunities to grow and start along new pathways with him. It is a time of new discoveries, and full of excitement.

And finally, the summers of our lives are those ‘times of plenty’, those moments when we feel God especially close to us, and know him in a deeper way.

What season of life are you in? How is God working with you in those moments?

Whatever situation or season we are in, God’s love remains with us, and he will always be there to help and support us. Pray that you find God in your situation, and that you will know his presence with you, whatever season you find yourself in.

There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.
There is a time to be born and a time to die. 

There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants.
There is a time to kill and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy and a time to build.
There is a time to cry and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad and a time to dance.
There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them.
There is a time to hug and a time not to hug.
There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it.
There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.
There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
There is a time to love and a time to hate.
There is a time for war and a time for peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NCV)