A New Season

I have recently been very unwell with the ‘flu; Influenza A to be precise. It knocked me off my feet for almost a month.

For a lot of that month I was housebound, unable to even get out of bed on some days. But when I did manage to get outside briefly one day, the thing that struck me first was that although it was still winter, the trees in my backyard had already started to blossom…. Winter is here, but spring is definitely on the way!

This is true in nature, and in life. We go through the natural cycle of seasons; Spring, summer, autumn, winter. But we also go through personal seasons; there is the spring of new beginnings and fresh new possibilities. Then summer, at times full of life but sometimes stormy, barren or dry. Autumn, the season of change and finally, winter where things often lay dormant and look lifeless. Every season is of value, in nature and in life, and each one has its proper place. The natural seasons follow each other sequentially, just as they were designed to do, but in life sometimes our seasons do not seem to make sense. You could be in the spring of new beginnings and then suddenly find yourself in the midst of a dormant winter. Or, you could be in a dry summer and then suddenly comes the beautiful change of autumn. Nothing lasts forever… and circumstances change, both good and bad. Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise… Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

As a Christian, I believe that all our seasons in life are ordained and determined by a loving God. He created our natural seasons and He is with us in our personal seasons… good and bad. I don’t for a minute believe that God ‘causes’ difficult seasons in life, we as humans all have free will and choice to do as we want, but I do believe He uses them for good, according to His will. (see Romans 8:28)

This blog is the start of my ‘spring’… The buds have started to blossom… and the new season is on the way!

Thanks for reading my first ever blog post…. and stay tuned!