Life's Seasons

This morning I read the following, written by Henry & Richard Blackaby:

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

The beauty in the way God designed the four seasons is that, though each one is distinct, they all work together to bring life and growth. Spring is a period of freshness and new life. Summer sees growth and productivity. Autumn is a time for harvesting the rewards of past labors. Winter is the season of dormancy and closure. Each season has its own unique beauty and makes a significant contribution to life.

Just as God planned seasons in nature, He planned seasons in life as well. Life has its springtime, when we begin new things and look excitedly toward the future. Summer comes and we work diligently in the heat of the day at all that God has assigned to us. With autumn comes the fruition of things begun at an earlier time in our lives. Sometimes winter brings hardship, but we remain hopeful, for another spring is just around the corner.

In God’s perfect design for our lives, He has planned for times of fruitfulness and activity. He will also build in times of quiet and rest. There will be times when He asks us to remain faithful doing the same work day after day. But there will also be periods of excitement and new beginnings. By God’s grace, we will enjoy seasons of harvesting the fruit of our faithfulness. By God’s grace, we will also overcome the cold winters of heartache and grief, for without winter there would be no spring. Just as it is with the seasons of nature, these seasons in our lives work together to bring about God’s perfect will for each one of us.

I feel like we’re all in a period of winter as we journey with the Ehrlich’s through this trial. We’re all being “pruned” by God, and it hurts. But Spring will come! As we are all reflecting on Jim’s life and commitment to live it faithfully, positively and genuinely, a time will come to grow into God’s perfect will for our lives. We will all be better people when we contemplate Jim’s life and grow from it. Thank you Jim for ushering us all into a Spring like we’ve never experienced before!

-Woody Anderson (Chris' brother)