Seasons

So, needless to say that I am simply, overwhelmingly, obsessed with the leaves right now. I have truly never experience the leaves changing like they are and they are just taking my breath away daily. Honestly, I find them to be very distracting and because I just want to stare at them and take in the beautiful colors. Recently, a friend and I went on a hike at Oak Mountain State Park. I barely wanted to watched where my feet met the ground because I just wanted to observe the world around me. 

I understand that the trees will not remain this way. I know that a day will come, most likely sooner than I would like that the leaves will fall off the trees. A good friend of mine joked with me recently about how I have truly never experienced seasons. In southwest Florida everything remains green all year round. In jest he shared with me that I should not cry over the trees with no leaves because they are not dead. He jokingly assured me that the leaves would come again in this glorious season of spring. Like the vibrant colors of fall, this too amazes me. 

 

This reminds me of the passage in Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

“For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.”

 

 

I love that God creates seasons. There have been times in my life where I have felt dead. There have been times when I have felt hopeless and beaten down. There have been times that I have felt like a tree in winter. However, God is the God of seasons. He is the God that paints the brilliant colors on the trees and He is also the God that allows a time for all of the leaves to fall off, and for the tree to appear dead. The amazing thing though is that the leaves emerge at the end of the season! Winter does not last forever! (remind me of this mid- January….) 

 

There have been times in my life that have been bleak. There have been times when I wanted to throw my hands up (and oftentimes did) and scream at God with all that is within me and plead with Him for the season to end. It felt like an endless winter. Most of the time it did not end when I wanted it to. But It always ended. Spring has always come. 

I am so thankful to serve and love a God that does not allow me to sit in pain and suffering forever. I am so thankful that He is a God that has created seasons. I don’t know what season of life you find yourself in. Maybe your life is wonderfully, and blissfully happy. Perhaps, you are in a dark season. Or most likely, like myself you are somewhere in the middle. No matter what season you are in, I think that we are to remember that god is a God of seasons. That each day, no matter the season is a blessing. I more often then I would like lose sight of that fact. That each day, no matter the season is a blessing. 

 

For now though, I am going to enjoy the current season that I am in. I am going to marvel at the leaves and the beautiful creation that surrounds me. What a blessing that is! And, when all of the beautiful leaves fall off, I will then remember that they will emerge again. That even though the trees appear dead, that is just for a season.