Seasons

The first cool front of the season just arrived. The lower temperatures and a brisk breeze have replaced the hot, humid Houston summer (at least for a few days).

Fall is my favorite season. Perhaps I like it best because of the beautiful panorama of fall trees I remember from my childhood growing up further north. Maybe it’s due to the bountiful harvest from summer gardens. More likely, it’s because I enjoy Thanksgiving. I’ve always enjoyed my family congregating around a table, sharing stories and memories and catching up on what is happening in the lives of loved ones.

The changing of seasons reminds us of God’s plans for us. We see this mentioned in Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Let’s look in more detail to what we know about seasons.

1. No season remains forever. Every winter is followed by spring. Spring is followed by summer. Summer by autumn and then winter again.

2. Each season has its purpose. We can’t have spring without winter.

3. The seasons don’t always last the same amount of time each year.

4. Each season is different than previous years. No summer is exactly like any other summer. There are similarities, but some summers are hotter, wetter, or longer than others.

Just as the natural seasons have their time and purpose, so do the seasons of our lives. King Solomon writes of this in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:”. Verses 2-8 tell of the many times and seasons.

In Spring we experience planting where new growth and buds of potential form. In Summer, the growth continues, but we must water that growth with the study of God’s Word, prayer and obedience. We then experience an autumn of harvest. The abundance of the harvest is based on how much we have sown in Spring and how we tended the seed through the summer. Then comes a winter season of rest and preparation for the cycle to begin again.

Through what season are you currently walking? Is this a springtime for you, where you need to be sowing seeds in faith? Has God called you to give Him something to plant knowing He will help it grow and produce a harvest in your life? Perhaps you have already planted and are waiting to see the growth come. If so, are you tending it properly, watering with the Word and removing any weeds that would choke out your seed? Perhaps you are getting ready to harvest what you planted and tended. Are you willing to give God the first of that increase? Or are you in a period of dormancy? Does God have you resting and preparing for something new? If so, are you studying, praying and seeking His direction for the next new thing He has planned?

Each season is a time for us to diligently apply God’s Word to our lives. Whatever season you are in, ask Him to direct you. For Spring, what do I plant? For Summer, how do I properly tend the seed, being diligent to care for it? For Autumn, am I bringing in the harvest and honoring God with it? Or is it Winter, and am I seeking Him for direction and preparing for Spring?

Whichever season you are walking through, make this the best one yet!