To every thing is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Spring gets in the air, but fall gets in the heart! October is sort of like the henges on a gate or door which provides an accessible and easy opening to something beautiful and wonderful. A season is a period of time and time is what God uses to ut His plan of salvation into practice. Although God is timeless, His creatures and His creation are all bound by the bookends of seasons.

Seasons anchor God's faithfulness. We may not always be able to trace His footprints but we can always see His fingerprints. Just look at the leaves on the trees, the golden peanut fields and the white cotton balls you'll get a glimpse of what the hand of Almighty God can do. Furthermore, with even more spender is seeing the hand of God in the lives of His children as He gives them faith to respond in every season of life in a way which glorifies the one who with wisdom, mercy and love sends just the right time, in the right way.

Seasons should encourage us all because they prove that God is in charge and He has promised to show His faithfulness in nature by praising seasons and in salvation by sending His only begotten son.

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Our Heavenly Father knows just what we need and just the right time to make it happen. Seasons give us something to look forward to, primarily because we are geared by God's grace to grow closer to and more like Him. And, in order to grow, we might just have to change. Grace is evident in every season and is sufficient for us to appreciate and look forward to whatever changes God sends in our lives. Seasons validate that we can trust God for everything and that is how we increase our faith. Seasons are encouraging too! The bare and barren fields and trees in the winter season always change, yielding crops and fruit at the appointed time. 

If we're honest, it's hard to really prefer one season over another. It seems when winter is over, we're ready for spring, and when spring has sprung, we settle for the summer, and then the cooler days and beautiful foliage prompt us to fall in love with the fall season. God's timing and His seasonal grace means that things are not always the way they seem. It's hard to understand how a caterpillar can become a butterfly, but God makes it happen. likewise, it's hard to understand our losses and crosses, but God can bring something beautiful out of what we consider ugly and wasted, and He does it all by appointment! 

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3

We seem to always talk about the weather even though we can't do anything about it. Surely, it's good that we can't, because given our human nature in controlling the thermostat even in a single room, we would surely cause much chaos with when and how the seasons are presented. Actually, when we talk about the weather, we are in a way talking about God. There is no better subject to talk about either. This is the season to watch God do His work. It's always wise to let the one who knows the most do most of the talking. Listen to God and fall in love all over again with the fall season.

There Is A Reason For Every Season

Did you know that everything that happens to you happens to prepare you for something else? Maltbie Babcock wrote a poem entitled, "Back to the Bread."

"Back of the bread is the snowy flour,
And back of the flour, the mill.
And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower, 
And the sun and the Father's will."

One of the surest ways to know our purpose and the purpose of changes in our natural and spiritual lives is that of loving our Heavenly Father. Loving God is not a decision we make, it is who we are in Christ. God loved us first and when He quickened us with His Holy Spirit we had no choice but to love God and hate sin. Now our love to God, just like our faith, can always be improved upon and we should desire that both our love for Him and faithfulness to Him will be increased every day. Seasonal changes should cause our love for God to burn hotter and our faith to shine brighter. These changes, and not by chance, show us our purpose and assure good things in our future. 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Receive Every Season

Christmas is not the only season to be jolly. We should appreciate every season as from the hand of God. When we do this, we can look beyond our circumstances and situations with confidence that the omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God of the universe knows what He is doing. No doubt God is powerful enough to do all things, but believing His unconditional, agape love is the motive for His doing it should comfort us even during the most stormy seasons. Every time it clouds up and rains is never the time to complain. Never complain about anythings, most especially about the rain. Rather, see in the rain the blooms of flowers, green grass and bountiful crops. Going through seasons of grief and loss is hard and requires us to depend on God to get through them. Nevertheless, be aware that God will often stretch our hearts with burdens and problems just so we can receive and hold more blessings! When life hurts, look to Jesus! He is the premier pain taker in every season. Jesus wept, but He never complained -- even on the cross!

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Luke 23:46

But we must always look for and receive God's blessings in the proper season. I have three pear trees in my back yard. Now is the season to enjoy them. A few weeks ago, I was craving a pear, saw one that looked ripe. picked it and began eating it. Instead of sweet fruit, I got a bitter bite. We can also pick blessings too early too and we con't be able to enjoy them nearly as much as we will when we receive them in the right season.

The other side of receiving every season is to be sure we get the blessings God provides us. It's easy to overlook or take for granted God's blessings. Remember, eternal life is forever but blessings are not for they are seasonal. The manna the Israelites received from the Lord had to be gathered the day the Lord gave it. If the Israelites didn't get it that day, they didn't get it at all! The reason on my pear trees are ripe right now, so I try to eat at least one very day, for I know real soon I'm going to go out to the trees to pick a pear and there won't be any to pick. If God sent you a blessing today, it's picking time!

Rejoice In Every Season

God always gives us something to look forward to and we ought to be happy about that. Joy is one fruit that is not seasonal. God would not command us to do something He doesn't enable us to do. Rejoicing is not a suggestion nor is it seasonal!

Rejoice evermore. 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Rejoicing when we're hurting is like trying to swim against the current of a strong river. The only way we can do this is by the Holy Spirit anchoring our hearts to hope in Jesus Christ. When the love for God of floods our souls, we can endure trials and suffering with joy. Our Lord and Savior Himself endured the cross because He saw the season of redemption it would bring and it was pure joy set before Him.

We'll also be able to see the reason for the seasons and receive the seasons with the right attitude through a prism of tears. Every Christian has a trail of tears to trek, for this is not their hoe and they are moving on to their heavenly abode where there will be no sadness, pains, nor goodbyes.

God loves us in every season! No matter which direction the wind is blowing, it always points to God's love. We shouldn't let our problems and failures steal our joy in Christ. Nor should we allow our successes and prosperity to bring us more joy than our Heavenly Father. Even though the disciples were happy about their successes in the kingdom's work agains evil, Jesus reminded them their real season of rejoicing was not because of what they had done or not done, but because of what He had done and because of that, their names were written in Heaven. Is it not most wonderful that our names are written in Heaven too? How can we be sad with such a season of grace?!

Brother Randy