Changing Seasons

Isaiah 43:1b-2

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you. (ESV)

When I was in Ukraine on a short term mission trip in college, we were hosting a worship night for college students at the ministry we were serving with for the week.  In the chaos of the night a Ukrainian man who was a missionary to his own country pulled me aside and told me that he felt like God was asking him to tell me a few things.  Among these things was the reminder that when I’m reading my Bible and I don’t feel like God’s speaking to me, he is still there.  And if I’m praying and I don’t feel like he’s hearing me, he still is.  That reminder has stuck with me for the past four years — coming to my mind every time I feel that way.

After all, seasons are normal, and they bring beauty to each other!  Take fall for example: fall is beautiful because it’s relief from the summer heat and the colors are different and changing!  Winter is beautiful because it’s not something everyone experiences and the pure white is brilliant and unmatched.  Spring is beautiful because it shows life after winter, and summer is beautiful because it provides warmth and heat and so on.  But if they didn’t have each other to compare to, they wouldn’t stand out as much because it would just be the norm.  Seasons are good.  Even in our life, seasons are good.  Because if you were always on a spiritual high, you wouldn’t appreciate it as much.  And if you were always in a wintery time of your spiritual life then you would easily get discouraged.

Seasons are beautiful, even the hard ones, because the truth is: even in the hard seasons, God has never left our side.  Just like he promised the Israelites in the book of Isaiah, his promise remains for us as his people now: he will be with us.  When you’re passing through “rivers” of this life God is holding on to you.  When you are facing what seems to be a “fire” of life, don’t worry.  God’s still got you!

What makes the season you’re in right now beautiful?