05/09/2014

Good morning. It’s that time of year now when, if it hasn’t already happened where you live, any day soon you will step outdoors one morning and notice a subtle change.

The “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” will be on its way.

Then a month or two after that and it’s Winter, freezing temperatures and icy roads. We turn up the central heating and wait for the first green shoots of Spring.

Life is seasonal.
“There is a time for everything”, says the Book of Ecclesiastes, “and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,…”

And we experience those changing seasons in our own lives. Not just in the natural process of growing up and aging, but in our circumstances.

The joys of Spring don't last forever, but thankfully neither do the bleak days of Winter.

The Bible tells us, “…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Coping with change is difficult, especially loss; loss of a job, loss of health or loss of a loved one. And while there are some events from which we may never fully recover, remember that life is seasonal and take consolation from the words of the Apostle Paul, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles,…”

Heavenly Father, we pray this morning for all of those in trouble and for whom this day may be particularly difficult. Use us today to bring blessing and comfort, warmth and light to a troubled world.
Amen.