We Brits are (understandably!) renowned for our near-obsession with the weather and its frequent dominance of our conversations. Some years ago we enjoyed a two-night stop-over in Singapore – on asking our transfer-taxi driver if he’d heard a forecast for the following day he shrugged and replied “No, but it’ll be the same as every day.....”! Our first thoughts were “That’ll be alright then”, but then we got to thinking “How boring!”. What a privilege it is to live in a land of changing seasons.

In the biblical account of creation (Genesis chapter 1vv14-18) we read of the establishment of ‘lights in the sky’ to separate day from night and mark the seasons. Recently we have been in a season of unusually widespread appearances of the ‘Northern Lights’, as well as a partial eclipse of the moon, and some stunningly beautiful rainbows. These last are a reminder of God’s covenant that “As long as earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease”. (Genesis chapters 6-9). 

Whilst it cannot be denied that changing climatic conditions are seemingly leading to ever less-predictable and more extreme weather events, the seasonal changes in daylight hours, with all they imply, continue.

We can draw many parallels with the ever-changing seasons of our lives. We pass through times of change physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We have to balance our life activities and work at our relationships in so many different circumstances, and will often ask the question “Why?”. With the theme of ‘man’s reasoning’ Solomon declared that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity...”(Ecclesiastes chapter3).

How good and comforting it is that we have an unchanging God who longs to have a loving relationship with us, if we will only let Him. 

David King

Okehampton Baptist Church