Seasons

The faded yellow leaf tucked itself in the corner of the yard. Its contrast against the lush, green Bermuda grass highlighted the finality of summer.

The end of my favorite season.

Of course, summer officially ended a month ago, but sunlight and warm temperatures double down in a brutal game of tug of war with fall. Refusing to give up until, at last, divine design requires their surrender.

And mine, too.

I wasn’t built for the colder seasons. For the snow, the ice, the bone chilling wind that whips through the bare and dry land. For the extended hours of darkness, the delayed daylight, and premature nightfall.

Never the less, the world was created for change. And when one season ends, the next begins.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

We are in a long season. Not a quarter of a year stent with a predictable outcome at the end. No simple transition from summer to fall or winter to spring.

No, this is a season of life that is riddled with unknowns. A season with an uncertain ending. But, as I spun the small oak leaf between my fingers, it was as if God has sent me a front porch reminder that nothing, on this side of Heaven, is forever.

Listen, you might be in a wonderful season. One that you never want to end. Enjoy it! Enjoy every single moment. Soak it up to the very fullest because it will come to an end.

Or, you may be in the midst of a challenging season, and you’re more than ready to move on to the next… should it ever arrive.

It will.

There is an allotted time for everything… everything… in the shadowlands. No one, no event, no activity, no thing will last forever.

It’s one of God’s great gifts of grace and mercy. One that is often consumed with either tears of sorrow or shouts of joy. But these events, these seasons and times, propel us forward. They sanctify us, preparing us for what’s to come. Whatever God has in store for us next.

So enjoy it, my friend. Or, endure it with the strength God provides.

Change will come. And it will come again. But God, our constant, the season creator, always remains.