Changing seasons



Here in the uk for the past months, we have been experiencing a heatwave. The media has been telling us that it is likely to be hotter than even the great summer of 1976. I have absolutely loved it. Every opportunity I have had, I have been swinging in my hammock, listening to podcasts and sipping on mint tea! Although some people have really struggled, wishing for rain and remembering cooler days gone by. I have been making the most of every moment of summer, not quite sure when it all might end. Through this time God had been speaking to me really clearly about seasons both physically and spiritually.

I enjoy each of the seasons and believe that each of them brings a different beauty and joy. I would like to think the same is true for the seasons of my life. I try to see joy and beauty in each of these seasons too. I love the verse in Ecclesiastes that reminds us:
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬


 I have found that I am not so good when it comes to the actual change of seasons. You see I’m one of those people who wears their flip flops long into the cold and blustery Autumn, and can be found wearing a scarf long into the warm and balmy spring and summer days. However God had been showing me in the past few weeks that in reality I can be a bit like this in my own life too. 

My life is going through a change of season. I feel like I am moving very quickly from the dead of winter into a full on summer heatwave! For a long time I have held onto a verse that says:
“And don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming!”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬ ‭TPT‬‬



However, now the harvest is upon me, it seems like a scary prospect to start the reaping! Whilst having coffee with a friend a couple of weeks ago, they said something to me that stayed in my mind and really challenged me to enter joyfully, willingly and expectantly into this new season. She reminded me that this new season was given by God…it was time to get excited! As psalm 31:15 says:

“My life, my every moment, my destiny—it’s all in your hands.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭31:15‬ ‭TPT‬‬

One day recently, I pondered this revelation whilst walking my dogs in the local park. As I lay on the grass feeling the sun on my face I was reminded of a photograph I had recently seen. The picture was of my eldest stepdaughter making a snowman just a few months previous on that very field. 





Bilbo  on the park in summer!




Zoe on the park in winter



As I thought on this photograph God spoke to me. He said that there is no harm in recalling the season that was once there, or even helping those that are in that season still, but God has given me, my new season, he has answered my prayers and caused the sun to shine upon me. So I must not forget the long winter, but embrace the summer and enjoy it as God is doing a new thing. As Isaiah 43 18-19 says:

 Don’t revel only in the past,or spend all your time recounting the victories of days gone by.Watch closely: I am preparing something new; it’s happening now, even as I speak, and you’re about to see it. I am preparing a way through the desert;
    Waters will flow where there had been none. 



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