Seasons are familiar to all who live on this amazing earth. Because it was set to spin while tilted at the angle of 22.5 degrees, we receive the benefit of weather variation throughout the year. Is the weather too hot where you live? Just wait a few days or weeks and it will cool down. Are you tired of shoveling snow? You can trust in the fact that Spring is on its way, replacing your ice and snow with a variety of flowers and comfortable temperatures.
In addition to seasonal weather changes, experience in life teaches us all about the surety of going through various seasons in our lives as we walk through our individual paths on this beautiful, life-sustaining planet as it orbits around the sun at 67,000 mph. In one year, our earth travels 584 million miles around the sun! I mention these mind-boggling stats to remind us of the precision of our divinely-guided location in the universe.
We should be encouraged as we experience a period of time when the dark shadows of our heart seem to be lingering longer than we can endure our lack of warmth and vision. By being reminded of our planets’ changing seasons, we find encouragement to stay strong in the knowledge that ‘this too shall pass’.
As we enter into November, we come upon a season within a season. We have set aside some time for celebration during the darkest days of winter to recognize the bounty of our year and the birth of a redeeming Ambassador from another realm. Lights are lit and songs are sung during our seasonal darkness. We plan times with our families and friends to be reminded of that which is most important to our hearts. The holiday season is an oasis, a break from the normal dealings of everyday life during the reduced warmth of the sun.
As we all take time during this season to offer up our collective giving of thanks for the gift of life and the bounty provided to sustain our lives, may we commit to a daily effort to offer thanks for His goodness and His precision in ordering our seasons…