There is a Season 

The autumn colours in our school grounds are quite spectacular at the moment. I have a fantastic view out my office window of an ornamental pear tree that has the most vibrant colours (see photo below). Soon, as the weather and season changes, this magnificent tree will have no leaves. Life is also a combination of contrasting seasons. We go through successes, and we go through failures. We go through mountains, and we go through valleys.  We have wins, and we have losses. There are four seasons in weather, but in our life, there are usually dozens of seasons. And every season of life includes both good and bad times. 

There is a well-known passage of scripture in the book of Ecclesiastes which gives us a representation of different life experiences.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace”.

This passage of scripture was made famous in a song by American folk band ‘The Byrds’ in the 1960’s called ‘Turn, turn, turn”. Except for the title of the song, the words of this song are taken from this passage of scripture.

We all walk through different seasons in life. Perhaps you are walking through a challenging season in your life at the moment. Ecclesiastes 3:11 goes on to say, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time”. The Bible is saying that God can take even the bad things and, in the proper season, turn them around and use them for good in the way He intends. God can make something good out of it as you trust Him with the pieces.

Quote of the week…

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination”.