Seasons of Change

The following article was published in the Arthur Graphic-Clarion in November 2013.

Each fall I look forward to seeing the wonderful color that is seen on the tree in front of our church. It is a tree that drops annoying prickly balls all summer that have to be picked up, but when fall comes it makes you quickly forget about the summer annoyance.
Another reminder of change is that we used to have two of these colorful tree’s in front of our church.  That is until a strong lightning storm took one of them down last summer.  It is now gone and the trunk is gone as well.  The seasons are like that in Central Illinois. You have the heat and humidity of summer that turns into the bitter cold of winter.  You have the pleasant blessings of Spring and new life, as well as the beauty and colors of fall.  But each time we go through one of these changes I am reminded of how the seasons of nature also resemble the seasons of life.

If there is a bad time, you can rest assured that better times are ahead.  If you are in a good place, you thank God for that blessing and ask Him to help you be prepared for times that may be more difficult.  When it is Winter we look forward to Spring, and when it is hot in the summer we look forward to the cold of Winter. Okay, that last one may be hard to sell to some of you.  There is something to be said however about how the changing seasons give us variety and keep things fresh for us.

I have often thought about how nice it would be to live in San Diego, California where the median temperature year round is around 65 degrees.  From an average low of 59 to an average high of 72, San Diego does not change much throughout the year.  In other words, they don’t look forward to Spring nearly as much as we do in Central Illinois.  Have you ever thought of it in that way?

In the book of Genesis God promises Noah that the seasons will remain until the end of the earth.  In Revelation, the last book of the Bible we are told about a New Heaven and a New Earth.  Both of these promises at the first and the last of the Bible give us hope and expectation.  So, as winter comes, let’s enjoy the beauty of the fall season and thank God that we have so much to look forward to, in life and in the seasons that he has created for us.  If you are in a winter season right now in life, don’t give up, Spring is coming!  If you are enjoying the 70’s right now in life, thank God and ask him to help you remember this moment.

Finally, remember this, all things work together for the good of those who love God!  Love God and He will see you through any season of life that comes!  Take time over this coming week to thank God for the good, the bad, the difficult, and the annoying things of life.  Thank him for the way that those things help to mold us into the people and the followers of Jesus that he desires for us to be.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pastor Glen Rhodes
Arthur Mennonite Church