Seasons

The weather has been pleasantly warm during this early part of October. Yes, the swimming pool is no longer bearable … and the mornings and evenings have been cool enough that I need to wear a jumper while walking the dog … but the afternoons have been pleasantly sunny in general, and I'm still sleeping under a sheet; I haven't had to dig my duvet out of storage yet.

Heavy rains were forecast for today, though - a sure sign that autumn and winter are on the way. The rain hadn't started yet when I woke up this morning, although sunrise ended with a rather interesting cloudscape with a rainbow right across it. (The photo above, taken across the rooftops from my upstairs terrace, was taken around 8.15 this morning.) Too foolish to heed the warning, I headed out with Buba, my neighbour's dog, for our morning walk.

We hadn't walked very far when the first drops of rain began to fall. Fortunately it wasn't too heavy and we were able to rush back home again before getting completely soaked. The smaller photo above (inset), from the same spot on my upstairs terrace, was taken at 9 am, when the grey clouds were mounting up and the first raindrops were beginning to fall. Now, a couple of hours later, the skies are completely grey, the sunshine is gone and the rain has been falling relentlessly all morning.

It's one of the signs of the season. In preparation for it, I've been taking a big bag with me on my walks, so that I can pick up sticks and pine cones and start building up a stock of kindling for when the time comes to start making a fire in the fireplace (usually in November.) The physical seasons are easy to recognise; whether we live in a part of the world that has only two of them (the wet season and the dry season) or whether we live in a part of the world with four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter), we all know how to read the signs. Spiritually speaking, however, we're often not so good at recognising the different seasons in our lives.

When I was in Africa this summer, during the Fortify leadership workshop, that was one of the topics I taught about: how do we understand the season of life we are in, so that we can navigate life's transitions successfully? Each season has its own characteristics, its own temptations, its own tests. When we're in a waiting season, we face the test of patience and the danger of loss of vision. In a transition season, we face the test of dependency on God and the dangers of losing morale and missing His timing. If we're in a challenging or wilderness season, our faith and calling are often tested, and we face the dangers of doubting God and giving up. What sort of season have you been in, and how have you experienced the tests of that season? Every season has its own tests and trials, but also its own opportunities for victory and personal growth. With God's help, we can learn to grow strong in the seasons of life.