The Different Seasons

I was talking on the phone with a good friend yesterday when he mentioned how the change in the weather had affected the production of his tomato crop.  He said that due to the colder weather that he had only a few more tomatoes that still had a chance of turning red.  This morning as I gazed out the window at our four potted tomato plants and two zucchinis, I was a little saddened as I realized that the same was true for our small garden.  The two large zucchini plants that only a week ago were taking over the deck with their large bright green stems and leaves reaching out to the sun, today looked slightly haggard and limp and hidden under their branches were only a few little zucchini which in all probability will never reach full maturity.  

The brown leaves from the surrounding Oaks now seem to be the dominant feature that is attempting to take over everything in our two patios!  As I sat at breakfast with my wife and remembered the plants at their zenith this summer, I suddenly was impressed with the meaning behind the drooping plants and falling leaves.

In our neck of the country, fall and winter is the time when we get the majority of our rainfall for the year.  As I began to consider that thought, my enthusiasm was renewed as I compared the cooler, wetter months ahead as being similar to our Christian growth.  From now until April the rains will come in earnest and our land, our foliage, and our community will be refreshed and prepared for the time of planting and harvest during next year’s spring and summer months!  Now that sounded exciting to me and puts a whole new twist to the winter blah’s!  I have never been a winter person.  I do not really care for the cold temperatures, and although I do like the occasional wind-blowing, umbrella destroying, hat flying away, rainy winter storm, I would much rather be wearing my shorts and enjoying the sun on a warm northern California summer day!     

It reminds me of the time my girlfriend (yeah… you know the drill… my girlfriend who is now my wife!) and I were walking across the parking lot at the Santa Rosa Junior College during one of those windy rain storms.  I had a hat on and was gallantly attempting to be cool and hold the umbrella over my girl’s head so as to keep her dry, when a gust of wind took the umbrella (and me), blew us forward and then popped the umbrella inside out.  Then to make matter worse, my super cool fedora style hat whipped off my head, and blew across the lot and landed in the middle of a big puddle! Needless to say, my attempt at being cool was totally blown (no pun intended!), so I threw all caution to the wind and was able to get the bent umbrella turned right side out again while the crowd of college students hurrying by had a good laugh at my expense.  Then I waded through the puddle to retrieve my ruined hat and returned to my girlfriend who was not doing a very good job at keeping a straight face.  Even though we had a good laugh at the whole event later on, it was not real fun at the time!  I had to spend the rest of the day in damp clothes and looking like a wet rat.  When I was young my hair was very curly and it took great pains to get it straight in the mornings.  When it got wet it just kind of stuck out everywhere, and that’s the look I carried with me that day… that I’ll probably never forget!

What does this have to do with our Christian walk?  Well, everything!  Isaiah 55:10 says: “Rain and snow come down from the sky.  They do not go back until they water the earth.  They make it sprout and grow so that it produces seed for the farmers and food for people to eat.” (God’s Word ©)  In our lives we all go through times when our personal harvest seems to wane.  These periods are usually followed by changes where we are refreshed and prepared for the next season of seed time and harvest.  They are times of growth as we learn new lessons, get rid of the weights of the past and get ready for the exciting adventures ahead.  Sometimes the seasons of growth and change are not the most enjoyable times in life, but they are necessary as we mature and continue to become the persons that God has designed us to be.  And just like the seasons of the year, the different seasons in our lives are regular and consistent throughout our span on this earth!

So what is my point?  Enjoy life!  Just as you enjoy and prepare for the different seasons of weather each year, also enjoy and prepare for the different seasons in your personal life.  Take advantage of the warm times, the cold times, the wind and the rain and rejoice that our heavenly Father loves you enough to not let you stay stagnant, but continues to facilitate your growth and maturity throughout your life!  I finally got smart and bought a couple of warm winter coats to help me to ward off the cold and be able to function… and have some fun, when the thermometer drops!  I hope that you can do the same and have some fun as the Son works within you “both to will and to do of His good pleasure!” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”