Renewal

October is one of my favorite months of the year! I have no problem at all saying goodbye to the hot sleepless nights of summer as the cooler breezes of fall start to move in. I really enjoy watching leaves change color and fall from their lofty perches to the ground below. I don’t even mind getting the rake out from the garden shed, gathering brightly colored leaves into piles to mulch. As the days pass, each one gets a little shorter allowing cooler nights to settle in upon us. Soon we will begin to gather in the season’s harvest of bright orange pumpkins, oddly disfigured squash and woven baskets overflowing with crisp, juicy, red apples. What a blessing this season is as it allows us time to slow down, re-gather our thoughts and prepare for the holidays that lie ahead.

Fall offers me a time to look inside myself, to re-evaluate my priorities that usually have gotten a wee bit twisted and out of order. Halloween, Thanksgiving and especially Christmas offer us an excuse to invite family and friends to once again sit around our hearth and gaze into the fire. As our fears and anxieties begin to soften, eventually melting away, we find ourselves refreshed, renewed and invigorated. There seems to be a great cycle to life where, as even our own  planet travels through our solar system in just the right way, with just the right amount of tilt and wobble to produce these seasonal changes that we so much look forward to.

The other day while at work, a colleague of mine, who has passed through some very tragic life events, made the most profound statement which caused me to stop and reflect on my own personal relationship with God. He said “I don’t understand how people who don’t have faith, who don’t have a relationship with God, can survive life’s tragedies?” Interestingly, many people I meet, who don’t yet believe in God, often ask me “If God truly loves me then why does He allow bad things to happen?” I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked that. The answer to that question is not always what people want to hear.

God never promised us a rose garden but actually said there would be trials and tribulation in this world. While God did promise us that He would guide us through to a safe harbor, He never mentioned that the seas of life we encounter would be calm. In fact, Jesus told us in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  So in keeping with our fall seasonal theme, Jesus also said in Matthew 12:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

This is a great verse on many levels. First, it’s the idea that when a seed dies it produces fruit. Death eventually brings life and, while Jesus’ teaches us about this law of nature, it’s also true spiritually.   Jesus is outlining the fact that He is going to die and die a horrific death. His death would not be the end but a new beginning. And as each one of us grasps that truth and cries out to God for help, He brings us into His kingdom where we can participate in the greatest harvest ever imagined, a harvest of human souls. Each unique individual was bought at a price, and ransomed from death to life. The King of kings and Lord of lords gave up His life so that many will live.

So, as the leaves fall to the ground and pumpkins begin to appear on front porches, try to enjoy this season of renewal and rest in the fact that God is at the helm, guiding us through the turbulent waters of life and into safe harbor! Jesus said that He would never leave us alone but come back to claim us, and that where ever He was, we would be with Him for all eternity. So as the sparks shoot out from your hearth this fall season and family and friends are gathered together, take and drink from the cup of salvation and feast on the bounty of the bread of life that is solely found in Christ Jesus our Lord.