From the NIV Bible:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
As I have been thinking about this season, Autumn… I keep coming back to how much can happen on the same branch. A leaf turns a beautiful color, then falls. One week we stop to admire the tree, and the next we’re raking up what we admired. Sometimes we cling to the beauty of a season so tightly that we resist the changes that help us grow. Other times we rush toward the next season, assuming it will be better. We don’t know what it will bring, but we can commit it to God and ask Him how to live faithfully where we are today.
The good is the harvest. Sometimes the harvest is an answer to prayer. Sometimes it’s a change in us we almost missed. We have a little more patience with someone who used to get under our skin. We can talk about a painful experience without reliving every moment of it. Before we rush into the next season, let’s pause and thank God for the fruit we can see today.
The bad is the loss. Autumn reminds us that even beautiful things come to an end. A role we loved may be over. A relationship may change. The first holiday without someone we love can make an empty chair feel like the most noticeable thing in the room. We can thank God for the years we had with someone and still wish we’d had one more. There’s room for both in the same prayer.
The ugly is what the falling leaves uncover. Once the branches are bare, we can see what the leaves were hiding. A season of change can uncover resentment we’ve been carrying, an apology we keep putting off, or the fear behind our need to control how things turn out. Sometimes the next step is to make a call and own what we said. Sometimes it’s to sit with God and admit how angry or hurt we still are. The same God we thank for the harvest meets us in the cleanup.
Something to Ponder! 🤔
Am I holding on to this season or rushing toward the next? What would it look like to trust God with both?
#Jesus #Faith #Christian #Bible #God #dailyscripture