Friday 10 October 2014

The Seasons of Life

I walked through Windmill wood the other day on my way home from town. I took time to stop and admire the signs of autumn....and even managed to take a few photos. The trees are beginning to display a beautiful array of autumn shades and drop their leaves. Little squirrels are scurrying around searching for nuts. The air is cooler but I was engulfed in that feeling of autumn that is everywhere. 

However, while I can admire the beauties of autumn, it is not my favourite season of the year. It is leading down into winter when things look so bleak, cold, barren and dead. I love spring when everything is bursting into life....hedges and trees are getting greener, flowers are budding, farmers are planting seed, and beautiful baby animals are born. Next I love summer....it's warmer with bright mornings and light evenings, and that means day trips and holidays....time to enjoy and relax from routines.
Spring
I sometimes think of life as having 4 seasons....spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring is our childhood when we are growing up and learning so much about life in the world around us. Summer is when we are in full bloom as young adults, 20, 30 or so and concerned with our career, marriage, having children. Autumn is middle age when the old body parts begin to wilt and just won't function as well as we'd like them to. Then, comes the wintertime of life when we go down into old age, failing health and eventually death.
Summer
As I reflect upon the seasons of life, I see myself as having a purpose to fulfil in each time of life. I accept that responsibility and recognize the wisdom of God's plan in it all for me. I'm in the autumn of life but I still have abilities that I can actively use for the Lord....and I've learnt a little bit through life's experiences which I hopefully can pass on to others. The old joints may not allow me to walk all the miles I did in the spring and summer of my life but I can still walk and talk and share God's love. I don't wish to whine or pine over the past or live in fear of the future. I'm content to live for God in the present.

Autumn
When I consider the seasons, I think that the Almighty God who holds this planet Earth in His hand is spinning it around to give us day and night but He is tilting it to give us seasons. When He tilts it towards the sun we get summer. When He tilts it away from the sun we get winter. Spring and autumn are in between. This reminds me that God tilts our lives through different times....some we enjoy and others we endure BUT no matter what experience God tilts your life through, always remember He is in control and He will give you the strength you need to go through it. 

Winter
One final thought.....death can come in any season. The seedling, the sapling, and the fruit-bearing shrub can die as well as the old mature tree. So make sure you are ready to die for we all must meet our Maker one day.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3v1 KJV)

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