Who Am I To Know Better … ?

I have been blessed to live in a state park most of my adult life.

After all those years, I still marvel at the way each season folds into the next. Springs of hopeful anticipation give way to summers of activity and purpose. Autumns of focused preparation fade into winters of peace and solitude and, at times, harshness.

Although I would like to hold onto one season a little longer at times, I take comfort in the cycle of life. The uninterrupted circle of seasons brings peace that transcends circumstances.

The steady march of expected change brings assurance that God has His very able hands on the controls. 

I’ve entered into transition in my own life, beginning the process of releasing. Not long ago, my “spring” of nurturing young hearts turned into a “summer” of guiding slightly older ones.

As autumn unfolds again, my seaason of preparation has begun as well. It won’t be long before the “winter” of empty nesting will be upon me. It is time to store up reserves to carry me through that sometimes harsh season.

And so …

As leaves turn, so to do the pages of my Bible. As those same leaves fall from the trees, I follow them to my knees.

As squirrels store up food in hidden caches, I hide God’s Words of strength, faithfulness, grace, and love in my heart—reminding myself this is His plan.

Who am I to question the turning of one season into the next?

He uttered a single word, and the world came into existence. His whisper parts the seas and moves the mountains. The sun and moon answer to no one but Him.

Leaves change color. Birds fly south. Volcanoes erupt. The earth spins. Storms rage. Snow falls. New life is birthed, only to return to dust in the expected rhythm of life.

Yes, seasons will change.

He commands it.

So I remind myself God is in charge. I acknowledge and submit to His sovereignty. I prepare myself for the the season to come by drawing near to Him.

And when I begin to revert to thinking I know better, which I do far to often, I re-read one of my favorite passages of Scripture:

“Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words?
³ Get ready to answer Me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform Me.
⁴ Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
⁶ What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its blanket,
¹⁰ when I determined its boundaries
and put its bars and doors in place,
¹¹ when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here”?