For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
Monday was the beginning of Fall and Spring, depending on which side of the equator you reside. The Sun’s direction relative to the equator will be to the south until 11:19 p.m. December 21st when it starts its six-month journey northward again. This is the way it has been and the way it will be as long as God intends. The Sun’s annual trek means that the earth will be constantly exposed to changing angles of the Sun’s intense heat. It is this movement that produces our seasons.
The changing seasons produce the rains that produce the crops that feed and nourish you and me. Psalm 65 speaks of the fall rains and how they provide the water necessary for maintaining life:
You take care of the earth and water it,
making it rich and fertile.The river of God has plenty of water;
it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
for you have ordered it so.You drench the plowed ground with rain,
melting the clods and leveling the ridges.You soften the earth with showers
and bless its abundant crops.
The changing seasons are not random. They speak directly to the faithfulness of God and our dependence on his care. Most of us in America get our food from the grocery store rather than directly from the land. However, this does not mean we are any less dependent upon the faithful changing of the seasons for this provision. The brilliance of fall colors in the Northern Hemisphere and the delicate pastels of spring in the Southern Hemisphere declare that God is faithful and awesome in all that he does.
The seasons are testimonies to God’s constant provision. His purposes are unchanging. Rejoice in the glorious colors of the coming days. Remind yourself and your children that it is God who cares for the earth and makes it rich and fertile.
The seasons declare the wonder of God!