Times and Seasons

When God creates, He does so wonderfully. I love the way that he’s arranged the times and seasons in the world. Our calendar, which is based on the scientific rotation of the planet around the sun, is an example of this.

Because of the arrangement of days in a week and weeks in a year, we never experience the same date on the same day in subsequent years. I think this is a comforting thing when considering unpleasant anniversaries. We are reminded that the anniversary on the following year, e.g. of the death of a loved one will be the same date but a different day. It’s a small reminder that we don’t relive things in quite the same manner, that there can be small but positive changes for the better.

The seasons too, as the earth rotates around the sun, remind us that life changes. God in his wisdom did not make the weather the same all year around but gave us four seasons to enjoy. We delight in the emerging shoots on a dormant bough in springtime. We revel in warm days and beach picnics in summer. The tones of autumn tress delight our eyes. For those lucky enough to experience snowfalls in winter, we are never too old to throw snowballs!

Some people see the seasons symbolic of the seasons of life – childhood, maturity and fruitfulness, reaping and reflecting and old age. We are reminded that change is a part of life and that each season in itself is full of blessings and joys. As I write this I’m enjoying the summer sunshine and tropical fruits in Australia, whilst friends in the United States are shivering in the winter snows. There’s something comforting to know that summer and winter, joy and pain, youth and maturity are found in this world together.

Just as spring inevitably follows winter, so we who trust in Christ know that old age and death is not the end but will be followed with a glorious new Spring in Heaven, praise God!