Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Life's Seasons

This is from the daily devotional I read - since I'm big on the whole "seasonal" thing - I thought I'd share it with you all.

Life’s Seasons

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

The beauty in the way God designed the four seasons is that, though each one is distinct, they all work together to bring life and growth. Spring is a period of freshness and new life. Summer sees growth and productivity. Autumn is a time for harvesting the rewards of past labors. Winter is the season of dormancy and closure. Each season has its own unique beauty and makes a significant contribution to life.

Just as God planned seasons in nature, He planned seasons in life as well. Life has its springtime, when we begin new things and look excitedly toward the future. Summer comes and we work diligently in the heat of the day at all that God has assigned to us. With autumn comes the fruition of things begun at an earlier time in our lives. Winter brings an end to a particular period in our lives. Sometimes winter brings hardship, but we remain hopeful, for another spring is just around the corner!

In God’s perfect design for our lives, He has planned for times of fruitfulness and activity. He will also build in times of quiet and rest. There will be times when He asks us to remain faithful doing the same work day after day. But there will also be periods of excitement and new beginnings. By God’s grace, we will enjoy seasons of harvesting the fruit of our faithfulness. By God’s grace we will also overcome the cold winters of heartache and grief, for without winter there would be no spring. Just as it is with the seasons of nature, these seasons in our lives work together to bring about God’s perfect will for each one of us.

3 comments:

Growin' With It said...

how i love this post stephanie! *for without winter there would be no spring* how true that statement has been in my life! thanks for this beautiful post!

~cjoy said...

I have recently had to remind myself that our "winter" season we are in will pass and spring will come...

Anonymous said...

That was great - thank you. Summer or winter, mountain top or valley low, one thing is always true: "This too shall pass"! I am so thankful for a God who blesses every season and uses it for his glory and our good.

A pastor of mine once said to remember that when we are in the valley, the only way to go from there is UP so we can rejoice in that! (from Psalm 23) The darkest day of the year promises that lighter days are coming....what a comfort to us in western OR. :)