I have been thinking lately as the season is changing (although you can’t tell it by the temperature) about how our lives are full of season changes as well. It is interesting to think that no matter our age, station in life and location that we still face the same seasons in life. We all encounter joy and pain and love and loss. We have experiences that shape us into the person that we ultimately become. The question is…how do we deal with it?

It is so easy to look at someone else’s life and compare it to ours noting that they could not possibly understand what we are going through or how we feel. We feel that our experiences must be unique. The thing is that our life experiences effect us differently. This is not to say that we are all dealt the same lot in life. There are some people that seem to achieve everything with ease, and there are some that never seem to get a break. However, we are not always there to see what others experience. People don’t always walk around and share the experiences that have brought them to where they are in life now. God knows what we need and when and it is important not to compare our lives with others. If we do, we forget to live our lives and become obsessed with others.

We need to realize that God has different seasons for each of us at different times in our lives. It is important not to dread the dead of winter when things seem barren. It is in those times that God molds us so that when spring comes it brings the fullness of life with it. I think it is just as important to not want to stay in a constant state of spring and summer because we become overgrown and begin to focus on ourselves instead of the glory of God. It is amazing to me that God has designed our seasons in such a way that the most colorful time is in the process of death. Every fall, I stand in awe of the colors and the way his majesty is portrayed through His creation.

Even in the dead of winter, He allows for some color to remain. He doesn’t snuff out everything we are. He simply bring us to a place of simplicity and purity to weed out the unneeded things. When God is giving us the falls and winters of our we are not void of life. We must remember that there is a time around the corner when life will abound. God is so faithful to bring us into the seasons of our lives that are necessary. My prayer is that I will embrace each season and what comes with it.

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