Passing Seasons

I had the privilege of getting to preach in my home church last night. It was very nostalgic. I recalled the night I was baptized in October of 1983. I recalled the old place we used to meet with as a youth group that has now been converted into a preschool area. I was walking through the old sanctuary remembering the Sunday night I was called to preach while sitting in the fourth pew in the middle section. That old sanctuary now serves as the children’s and youth areas.
I had the chance to talk to my pastor before the start of prayer meeting as well as greet old friends and faithful saints. I reminisced with current staff members and walked through their new one thousand seat sanctuary. It was a great night.
I enjoyed my time of getting to share God’s word along with personal testimonies. Unbeknown to any of us was what was taking place outside. It had been cold and overcast all day long. Later in the afternoon a little drizzle began to fall but nothing significant. Some time in the middle of the service the drizzle had turned into a wintry mix and there was snow and sleet piled up on cars once we walked outside.
I left that service to go and lead a college Bible study in a home which did not end until after 10:00 p.m. The temperature had continued to plummet and the wintry mixed increased in intensity. It made for an interesting drive back to this prayer cabin where I am writing this. The white snow flakes that shot down through the dark night fell like little missiles on windshield as the wipers removed them. It was beautiful and yet a few times the going was treacherous especially when crossing bridges.
This is early December. We are not used to weather like that very often especially in deep East Texas. Yesterday felt like a cold wintry day. The temperatures hovered in the thirties all day long with a cold north wind that chilled to the bone.
Today I have awakened to gorgeous blue skies and temperatures that will climb into the fifties before the day is over. I am looking out a window over a tranquil lake over onto the rolling hills of a Pine thicket. It is amazing how the weather can change so drastically. Just four days ago it felt like spring and I was wearing shorts and then overnight storms rumbled through bringing frigid temperatures along with snow and sleet.
Just as the seasons change bringing a changes in the weather so do the seasons of our lives change. This was brought home to me many years ago when my mother suffered a massive heart attack and lay in intensive care hovering between life and death for two weeks. Brenda and I left the hospital to get some lunch. We were both very somber and quiet eating our sandwiches and salads with swollen eyes and broken hearts. It dawned on me as I sat there silently that people all around me were laughing and enjoying festive hearts and merry memories with family and friends. I wanted to stand up and scream at the top of my lungs, “How can you laugh? Do you not know that mother is fighting for life and she is only being preserved by God through prayer? How dare you laugh and be light hearted. My heart is broken and aches and you should respect that.” Of course I did not stand up and say anything. It just reminded me that while my heart was breaking other hearts were rejoicing. We are all in different seasons at different times.
My mother ended up dying three months later in a rest home. I have been reminded numerous times while out eating with Brenda and the boys about those who sit around us and wonder if any of them are suffering as I suffered on that day many years ago. There are many seasons of life. Some are joyous and others are excruciatingly painful. Both pass. I have laughed again since my mother died on Mother’s Day weekend over ten years ago now. I have also cried again over the loss of others since that day.
Just like the cold cloudy yesterday passed into the beautiful day I am enjoying right now, I know other storms will come and other wintry mixes will ensue. I also know other gorgeous sunlit days will brighten our days. Change is inevitable.
Regardless of what season you find yourself in today I want to remind you that this too will pass. Nights of weeping turn into days of rejoicing. [Ps 30:5] [Is 613] Mourning changes into dancing. As sure as the seasons pass in the weather so do the seasons of our lives. Tough times don’t last forever. Happy times can be tragically snatched from us. One God rules firmly over both so keep the faith. Keep the faith for the seasons are a changing but we serve a God who never changes. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” [Heb 13:8]