Seasons

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Savior - Habakkuk 3:17-18

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten -Joel 2:25

Hi Everybody

I love the changing of the seasons. I love when the leaves turn colors in fall. I'm intrigued by the changes in temperature -- even putting water out overnight so I could see it frozen in the morning. These are new things to a Southern California kid. This winter I was rooting for snow (sorry), but it never came through. Now it is spring and the leaves are beginning to return to the trees. I love the changing of the seasons.

God makes the seasons and in them we can see the rhythms of life that He intends for us. God desires for us to move toward Him and then out toward the world, toward Him and into community, in community and outward and then back toward God and with God. It is an amazing and mysterious rhythm of wholeness. Our connectedness to God can mirror the seasons that God has given us; the restoration of spring, the fullness of summer, the fruit of fall -- even the coldness and darkness of winter. The winter of the soul, the dark night of the soul is a real thing; a time when though we know that God is there, we cannot feel Him. God allows seasons like these in our lives, and through them draws us to Him in new and fuller ways. When you have experienced the winter of the soul, and come out realizing that God was there even when you could not feel Him, there develops in you a richer and deeper faith than would have been possible without the season of darkness. And yet it is hard. It is one of the reasons why we need community. it is one of the reasons that God calls for us to carry each other's burdens. God is with us, and we need to be with each other during the dark night of the soul.

Have you been in such a season? Are you there now? God makes a promise to you. He says, "I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten." Do you believe that this is true?