The petunia blossoms have wilted. The ‘dragons have lost their snap. The paintbrush blooms of the celosia look more like dust wands from my kitchen closet than the soft, flame-shaped flowers they once were.
All are signs that summer is coming to a close. Autumn waits. School bells will ring, farmers will plow their fields, activities at parks and pools will slow. Like the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace, another season stands in readiness to fill our days.
I enjoy the passage of the seasons. They are an important part of our existence. God knew what he was doing when he put them in place. Just as the earth brings forth life in the spring, so babies are born, plants are rooted, careers begun. Summer is spent growing, watering, nourishing that which came to life earlier—the child matures, the plants bloom, the career expands. Autumn is a time of harvest—looking on what we have accomplished. The child has become a man, the garden gives forth its produce, and the career achieves a milestone.
In all of this God works his plans. I can remember when I considered writing a novel. I gave the story life, expanded its theme, grew its characters, and made it available to those who might consider publishing it. The hours were long, the criticisms sharp, the wait endless. Others around me achieved success while I remained unnoticed. But then like an ear of corn hanging from a stalk, I was discovered, my husks removed, the kernels of wisdom I’d penned deemed worthy. God knew when my time would be.
To everything there is a season. In Ecclesiastes 3 we are reminded that for every birth there is death, for every planting there is harvest. The list is long. But at the end of that chapter God is given credit for it all.
Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 says: “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.”
What season are you hoping for today?
Author of
An Anchor On Her Heart releases August 1, 2017
Love Calls Her Home releases March 2018
Pat, your gift of words once again helped me to see the changes in the season, and in my life, with fresh hope in place of the regrets and concerns that were weighing me down. Thank you!
Whenever I am weighed down by life’s uncertainty I turn to God’s word and his gift of prayer. Mountains that seemed unconquerable are reduced to silly hills when He is allowed to tackle them. Have a great autumn. A season of reflection and harvest.