Change of Seasons

There are differing seasons in our lives. These seasons don’t have a determined length, unlike nature’s seasons. We don’t like that. Instead, we like knowing how long we will have to deal with the weather we encounter. We like that we know the snow of winter will eventually give way to spring, and spring will eventually give way to the heat of summer. Just when we are getting tired of the heat, we lose it to the beauty of fall and finally winter once again. There is great comfort in knowing what is to come; we can prepare ourselves. We bring out different clothing to suit each day, we change the tires on our cars, and we open and close our homes differently.

I love this change and planning ahead for the future. Routine is peaceful, joyful even! However, when we don’t know how long something will last, or when it will start and end, we become anxious. I am in this stage of my life right now; the in-between. I am anticipating the birth of my fourth child sometime in late July. I currently have my foot firmly in two jobs: a pastor and a plumber. My children are in between the ages of being at home, and just starting school. My wife has three jobs, and I am enrolled in school.

Maybe you’re in this season, or you can remember this season well. God was with you for those seasons, even when you didn’t know the end results. What season are you in your lives now? Perhaps it is a season of retirement, slowing down, of watching grandchildren grow and seeing great grandchildren born. Maybe you are alone now, and perhaps it is just yourself and the Lord. In every case, we can sometimes have fear and anxiety because we don’t know what the future holds for us. Listen to what the Lord has to say about trepidation about the future; Paul writing to the church at Phillipi “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7). Jesus Himself to His disciples in the Gospels, this from Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Take heart knowing you are so much more valuable than the plants and the creatures of the earth. Your Lord and Saviour cares deeply for you and is watching over you today. Don’t worry about tomorrow, let it worry about itself! Focus on Jesus today.