SEASONS: Autumn
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV). Harvest marks the end of summer and transition to autumn. Days are a little shorter and the evenings a bit cooler. Sweaters, flannel shirts and hot chocolate are comforts in the long evenings. Bonfires make the perfect social setting. Green fades from the leaves and is replaced with a spectacular display of red, gold, orange and brown. All seasons speak in testimony to the existence of God and to His goodness, but autumn is my favorite. The beauty of creation is a witness to the Creator. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork (Psalms 19:1 NKJV). For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (Romans 1:20 NKJV).
The citizens of Lystra were about to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas after seeing miracles performed. They rightly concluded that this was the work of deity. However, they were not familiar with the living God. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, “who
in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. “Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:14-17 NKJV).
The wonders of creation not only teach us that God is good to man, it also teaches us that He is far superior to man. Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our
God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for
which I sent it (Isaiah 55:6-11 NKJV).
The rest of winter is comforting. The birth of spring seems miraculous. The warmth of summer is exhilarating but to me, the vivid display of autumn speaks the loudest. All together they remind us of the promise God made as Noah offered sacrifice after the flood. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease” (Genesis 8:21-22 NKJV). The seasons are reliable because God is reliable. Only the faithless can believe that man can disrupt those things held by God’s power. It will be God who chooses when the heavens and earth are folded up and put away (Hebrews 1).
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard (Psalms 19:1-3 NKJV). Daniel said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:20-21 NKJV).
Do not take the changing seasons for granted, especially those of us in the Autumn of our lives. Observe, listen, and learn. God is speaking.