Seasonal change is in the air, in the weather and in our lives
It’s arrived. Wintry weather. It’s time to wrap up warm in hats, scarves and gloves, knowing you’ll still feel a chill on your nose. And it’s time to start leaving the house 10 minutes earlier in the morning if you have to drive, ready to scrape the frost off the car windscreen. And it’s a time when, amid the plummeting temperatures and occasional fear of frostbite, the world around us displays new forms of beauty. Seasonal change is upon us.
As I took a frosty morning walk to work this week I was struck by how the picturesque landscape was and the beauty of creation, despite how desolate things can look at first glance as autumn gives way to winter.
All around us trees are losing, or have lost, their leaves. Bare branches reach up into the sky with no sign of life upon them. Leaves lie on the ground, rotting away into the earth from which they came. And yet, those same leaves are beautiful. The interplay of fiery colours creates a rich autumnal tapestry on the ground, and the wintry touch of frost causes it to sparkle in a way it couldn’t do before.
Soon those colours will be gone, winter will be in full flow and scenery will change again – perhaps a covering of snow altering the landscape and bringing its own beauty. And then, as the outside world begins to warm up once more, new life will burst from dead-looking branches in a flourish of springtime, before summer brings flowers blooming in all their glory.
Four seasons. Each different and distinct. Each full of beauty in its own right. It’s clear to me that the changing seasons of the meteorological world have parallels with the changing seasons of our lives.
Throughout our existence we face seasonal change. Times of laughter on occasion give way to grief. In time, a season of fresh happiness may arrive. We may face many and varied challenges in life but each brings its own season and, between them, seasonal change.
The Bible tells us that everything in life had a time and place. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 1-8 say, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Everything in its proper time and place. And verse 11 tells us. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
Sometimes we can predict the seasons of our lives and sometimes one will come out of left field and take us by surprise, either happily or sadly. But, while we cannot always control the seasons we experience, the Bible makes it clear that God is in control. Daniel 2:21 tells us, “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” And Romans 8:28 tells us, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
While our lives go through seasons, there is one constant which, irrespective of our circumstances, never changes. As Hebrews 13:8 puts it, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
And the changing seasons of both the world and our lives point to one of the biggest changes of season that will ever be, when the whole world will be replaced by newness. As Revelation 21:1 puts it, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
As autumn gives way to winter, may I never lose sight of the fact that, whatever season of life I might find myself in, whether the going is easy or tough, I have the ever-constant Jesus at my side and, as Jeremiah 29:11-13 tells me, He has plans to prosper me, not harm me, and to give me hope and a future.
Sarah Moore is the author of For the Love of Lentil, A journey of longing, loss and abundant grace, which tells the story of her experience of pregnancy and miscarriage. Copies of the book are available here.