Winter Woes
This devotion as you can tell is more of a Friday Devotion not a Thursday Night Devotion. This week has flown by and I just realized that I failed to post this last night! Well here it is...late :)
What is your favorite season? I've always been a huge fan of spring. There is nothing like the spring time warm weather after three long months of winter cold. Crisp air, fresh lemonade, dancing daffodils, baseball games, Chocolate Easter Eggs and of course trail rides on horseback! (okay the last one was mainly for me 😊 )
But these last few warm days have got me looking forward to spring. The Winter cold bites and stings. I have heard on multiple occasions that if you don’t like the weather today in North Carolina, just wait and it will be totally different tomorrow. That is because it is not uncommon for the east coast to experience winter and spring weather patterns just days apart. It may seem contradictory but not completely illogical.
Transitions often seem confusing and unrelentingly slow, but they are opportune times to grow in faith. To have faith, according to God's Word is to trust in things that you cannot see. Be assured, there is a new season for you just around the corner. God is just as consistent with his seasonal patterns as He is with our lives. Regardless of what you do or don't do (or whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not), spring will happen. Nature depends on it.
With the springtime approaching, some may be considering a new hobbies or new ideas. Spring often delivers with it a longing for new things. God is aware of our desire for restoration and ordained the changing of seasons.
This well-known passage clearly identifies the seasons we will face on this earth. They are not limited to four but include a variety of the following: birth, death, implanting, uprooting, killing, healing, tearing down, rebuilding, weeping, laughing, mourning, dancing, scattering, gathering, embracing, refraining, searching, giving up, keeping, throwing away, tearing, mending, silencing, speaking, loving, hating, making war, and maintaining peace.
Can you identify which season you are in? You may be in many different seasons at one time. You may have been in one season for a very long time and wish you could transition out of it. Whatever your lot, be thankful!
The passage in Ecclesiastes bring hope:
"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can."
Solomon claimed to have unlocked the secrets to meaningful life on earth. No matter which season you are in, there is purpose, and I will dare say, you can be "happy." Did you notice that death, killing, weeping, giving up, tearing, hating, and making war are amongst Solomon's top 28? How can such painful things be meaningful?
It's the same reason why spring follows winter. There are areas of our lives that must experience complete death in order to experience the full life God desires of us. Life and death are not mutually exlusive. The ashes of death will always bring forth the promise of a beautiful life. The equation can be written as follows: Death + Life = Beautiful.
The good news is God who created all, knows the best combination of Ecclesiastes 3 for you (eg: tearing + mending; scattering + weeping + loving). Since He knows all and sees all, you'd do well to trust His grand scheme. Be assured ... spring is on the way!
