What season are you in right now?
Summer. The days of summer officially ended yesterday. The pools are closed, the children are back in school, the days of sleeping in and staying up late are over. Summer is a time for play. A time when the goodness of God is so apparent because it is so evident and it is ours. Summer is when life comes easily to you and me. I love summer and its carefree pace. But summer cannot stay forever. During its sometimes self-absorbed embrace, we can start to feel entitled. We are lulled into apathy without…
Autumn. Preparing for the cold and barren months ahead. I love the still-warm days and the chilly nights. It’s a time for bonfires and football games. It’s a time to gather and take an assessment of where we are and what we need. The comfort of a routine spreads itself over us like a blanket. And then there is that amazing time of harvest. Of seeing what we have given our hearts and energy to come to fruition. Autumn is a time of loving what we still have with us. Our sense of the goodness of God is heightened by the knowledge that the bleakness of winter is coming. We try to squeeze out every moment of its beauty with a sense of urgency knowing that we must become dormant during…
Winter. Stark, frigid blasts. It catches us by surprise with its fierceness. Snow-laden branches that crack under the burden thrust upon them. Nothing is like a dazzling sun’s reflection on the snow, but there are contrasts everywhere. I cannot stay out in the frigid temperatures that will kill me without protection. Winter forces me to be still and wait. I cannot make anything grow, no matter how hard I try. Winter drags on forever and can almost extinguish hope as one gray day fades into another. The fear that nothing is happening can make this season the most difficult to endure. The memories of summer mock us as we wonder how much longer we can hold on and if God really does care. Surely we would perish in our affliction if not for the first signs of…
Spring. Glorious spring. New buds, the freshness of the earth coming back to life. Green that looks so vivid against the brown of winter. Thankfulness that life is still worth living, that God is as good as He declares Himself to be. Hope rising in our hearts that we have survived and that hope gives us the ability to dare to thrive once again. It’s when we see a glimpse of what God was doing when we believed the lie we had been abandoned and forgotten. Excitement and anticipation around every new corner.
John 15:8
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Whatever the season we find ourselves in, we can bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Which season are you in, my friend? You are not there by mistake. Praise the One who has made each season with its purpose: for summer’s carefree days, autumn’s reflectiveness, winter’s starkness, and spring’s hope.
