For many, Labor Day marks the end of the summer season. The kids are back in school. The days seems to be getting a little shorter and like it or not, winter is coming. There is a season for everything.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-14;reads;
“What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
As I reflect on this verse, this is what pops out at me.
- God has made everything beautiful.
- God has set eternity in our hearts.
- God longs for us to be happy and do good, that we might find satisfaction in what we do. This is a gift from God.
Our lives are a gift from God. Just as God created the Earth and everything in it, God created us too, to enjoy it.
There is a season for everything.
Last week, we snuck away for a late afternoon boat ride at the lake. While floating in our favorite cove, this leaf caught my eye. I scooped it up out of the water to admire the beauty of its redness. Another reminder that the seasons are changing. We cannot stop it or even slow it. It just is. But we can embrace it and enjoy the beauty in the change.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says,
“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent 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 would encourage you to go back and reread these verses, ever so slowly.
There is a season and a time for everything.
That beautiful red leaf reminded me of the changing that occurs in creation and in us. But, just as everything seems to die with winter, there is a rebirth that happens. Come spring, we get to enjoy the beauty of the newly budding blooms and the green of the grass. And although that red leaf is long since gone, a new vibrant leaf buds on the tree in its place.
We have seasons in our lives too. Times when we bloom and seasons where we must drop our leaves and give way to the winter within. There are things we must die to in order to give way to new things Christ longs to birth within us.
In the winter of our souls, there is a rebirth that is happening, although often unnoticed. But we aren’t there yet. I’m not anyway. I am only entering into the fall of my life, where the colors bloom out and give way to amazing new colors. This is where I learn to embrace the changing of the seasons.
Our lesson is to learn to enjoy each season, whatever season you find yourself in. Embrace the change, knowing there is only One thing that never changes. That is Jesus!
Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Let us pray:
God of the all the seasons, thank You for the changes. I am grateful that You never change and your love for us never ends. Teach us to embrace each and every change. And show us how to enjoy this gift of life You have given us. In Jesus Name, Amen.
P.S. Leave me a comment below because I love hearing from you. Forward this message to a friend and ask them to subscribe to my website so they can receive these messages in their inbox each week as well. Post on Facebook and tag me in it. Until next time, what season of your life are you in? -M
