All good things must come to an end, and with sadness I pulled up the remnants of my tomato vines this morning. I dug up the long poles that they were attached to, carried them to the shed and put the bed to sleep for the winter.
May through July is such an exciting time of nurturing the young plants, watching them grow and then enjoying the just picked cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes—I would say it’s my favorite time of the year. But with the nip of fall in the air this morning, I counted the blessings of cooler days, fresh apples and apple pies, and the time of rest for the garden and for me.
The changing of the seasons is one thing we can count on in life. I remember the February that my mother-in-law died, just two months after my father, I thought, If I can just make it through to Spring, and Spring did finally show up with its soft air and yellow daffodils.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with saying “Change is the only constant in life.” This has been comforting to me when I was going through a difficult time, knowing that it would not last forever. But the reverse is also true — the knowledge that a contented time will end can be a downer – depending on if you are a glass half full or half empty kind of person. Just like with technology, as soon as we get comfortable, something new is going to appear on the horizon and here comes change again.
Practically everyone I know is going through some sort of transition in their life. Just this week I talked to one friend who is losing her job of fifteen years when her place of business closes in a few weeks, another who is struggling with elderly parents who need to move out of their home for health reasons and one more who has recently married and is in the middle of moving, trying to sell a house, starting a new job and recovering from knee surgery! I’m worn out just thinking about that much change!
The writer of Ecclesiastes assures us that we will always have different seasons in our lives. I like the familiar King James version:
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. (Ecc. 3:1)
But the Living Bible says it more succinctly:
There is a right time for everything:
These words bring me so much peace. I don’t have to worry about what comes next or the trials I’m facing now, because it’s the right time for whatever I’m going through, as long as I’m putting my trust in God.
What’s changing in your life right now? As I’m journeying to rediscover God’s calling in my new retired time of life, I’m going to be looking at how some Biblical characters adjusted to change. I hope you will join me starting this Sunday, September 1st.
