Seasons Turn

To everything ... turn, turn, turn ... there is a season ... turn, turn, turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven.  Good song ... even better Scripture! (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

When I was a little girl my family lived in a house that bordered a town park.  Some of my fondest memories from that era of my life were birthed by the hours spent in what became my very own back yard playground.  Even now I can return in my mind to that place and remember the bell shaped merry-go-round that my sisters and I hung upside down on ... the 10 story slide that singed many a bare leg on a hot summer day (ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that big!), and the swings - oh, the swings were my favorite, for on them you could take flight.  But that was another time ... that was another season of my life...

Over the course of time people, rather than parks, became my focus and with this blessing came relationships and a broad bank of memories.  Some people, like my children, will go with me into eternity.  Others have somehow become etched roses on my heart.  While still others were simply a part of God's plan to teach and heal and grow me.  And the seasons continue to turn .....

With the help of a beloved friend I have come to realize that I am but a sojourner ... passing through this life on assignment from the Throne Room.  I wish that I felt secure in knowing that I had been all that God intended for me to be, for every person He intended for me to touch ... but my humanness recognizes my shortcomings.  Consolation comes, however, as I pray that God would grant mercies to cover those things which I unintentionally leave undone.  And still the seasons continue to turn.....

Peace is assured if we wait on the assignments that the Lord has for each one of us.  Just as seasons of this earth turn at His direction, we must wait on Him as the evolution of each season of our own life unfolds before us.  Spring brings with it hope ... Summer strengthens us with promise and endurance ... Fall, with its complexity of beauty and death, bursts forth in both awe inspiring colors and a harvest that sustains and fortifies us during those long Winter nights.  In the midst of any season of life we must be willing to enter into whatever it is that God has planned for us ... going through each season of life with the single vision of being used by God to bring glory to His ultimate purpose.

Remembering Jeremiah 29:11 we can endure any test ... any trial ... any season ... "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  His promises are trustworthy.  Hope in Him sustains us, no matter what the season, for His love endures forever.

May each of us turn and praise His Holy Name ... turn, and praise the Name of Jesus now and forevermore.
Amen and amen.