Growing Up

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5: 8-10 (NLT)

December has the shortest days of the year, but January and February are the months where the cold and darkness can seem unbearable. This year friends were sharing words of encouragement for the end of winter and the coming spring when we were just a few weeks into the New Year. “Only four months until we complain about the heat!!!”
Isn’t it comforting to know that the cold will end and warm weather will come again? Year after year we can depend on the natural rhythms of the world. We can predict the change in seasons that influence the weather and changes in nature. We’ve even constructed our society and cultural events around the seasons. School terms, sports, taxes and holidays are all human creations that revolve around natural cycles. We depend on the cycles of nature to signal us to change our activities and prepare for the next phase.
Natural cycles are a gift from God. They are a promise that although there is continual change there is also an order to the changes we experience. And although we can never go back and relive a cycle, we can depend on the repetition of seasons and life cycles to bring us new opportunities and maybe even a second chance. Certainly these cycles are a chance for us to practice, grow and mature. After many years of practice maybe we actually get things right, or mostly right, at least some of the time. When we keep trying we can find out what pleases the Lord, and what gives us peace, and eventually we find the light.
Dear Lord, help us each day to practice goodness, righteousness and truth and to continually strive to please You. Amen

Written by Denise Mainquist