Finding the Beauty and Patience in Each Season

“Now as for you, dear brothers who are waiting for the Lord’s return, be patient, like a farmer who waits until the autumn for his precious harvest to ripen”—James 5:7 (TLB).

A friend’s recent Facebook post read, “I despise fall, but I have to admit that today is one gorgeous day!”

Many don’t like the fall or winter season, preferring the spring and summer instead. My preferences have changed over the years. I’ve learned to embrace each season with its ever-changing scenery.

I always look forward to the transition from one season to another, especially from summer to autumn. Squirrels are busy gathering and hiding acorns. The smell of wood-burning fireplaces permeates the air, reminding me that winter is just around the corner. Leaves transform, sometimes it seems overnight, from greens to deep reds, bright oranges, and sassy yellows before they turn loose of the tree branches, dancing softly to cover the slowly browning grass. No painter or photographer can capture this beauty perfectly. Only God, the most glorious artist of all, can create such a masterpiece.

The word “autumn” has been replaced, in most part, with the word, “fall.” Regardless of the term we choose, this season is a time to slow down after the hectic pace of summer when we try to cram in vacations and other sun-loving activities before it comes to an end.

Author Elizabeth Lawrence once wrote, “Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.”

For me, autumn is a time to pause and embrace one of the most beautiful seasons of all. As the flowers I planted last spring began to fade, I am reminded of the brevity of our own lives. I love what the writer of Ecclesiastes had to say in chapter 3, verses 1-8:

“There’s a season for everything
     and a time for every matter under the heavens:
     a time for giving birth and a time for dying,
     a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,   a time for killing and a time for healing,
    a time for tearing down and a time for building up,  a time for crying and a time for laughing,
     a time for mourning and a time for dancing,  a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
     a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,     a time for searching and a time for losing,
     a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,    a time for tearing and a time for repairing,
     a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,     a time for loving and a time for hating,
     a time for war and a time for peace.

Just as there are seasons of planting, cultivating, reaping, and waiting before the next sowing, it takes different seasons in our lives for God to mold us into the person He wants us to be. Finding the beauty in each season, we can learn to patiently wait on God.