There’s something about this time of year, something rejuvenating and exciting. I realize that may sound strange being as some animals and most plants are currently making their necessary preparations to close up shop for the season, but I think it’s the way in which everything goes about that process that really impacts me. The air becomes crisp, the glow of the sun softens a bit and the leaves change with dramatic and unabashed abandon. I mean, before taking its leave of absence for the winter, nature sure does go out with a pretty incredible bang. And it serves as an amazing real-life illustration of how, rather than fretting over our circumstances, we should instead completely entrust them to God.
In Hebrews, chapter 12, it explains that we are to:
“Endure hardships as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
The end of a season is inevitable; it’s a circumstance of life. But circumstances, by definition, are just phases and details. They’re not the story; they’re simply a part of it. The real story is the life, or more specifically, how the life is lived.