Like the psalmist Asaph, who exclaimed, “My feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped… Until I went into the sanctuary of God” (Psalm 73:2, 17a), I was feeling sorely stressed about several things until God directed me to this Scripture:

“As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” (Genesis 8:22 GNT).

Seasons!       

As we are now just days away from the beginning of fall and the close of the hot summer season, which, this year, brought a plague of spotted lantern flies, especially around Washington, D.C., these flamboyant (colorful) sapsucking bugs are a pest to humans. They are harmful to a variety of plants, crops, fruit trees, and other vegetation. We are told that they will likely stick around, albeit in smaller numbers, throughout the fall. But relief is coming in the winter!

Seasons are cyclical. Life changes are seasonal and inevitable. It is a part of life’s rhythm. My recent experience of pain and sickness, which I alluded to a couple of weeks ago, lasted close to two weeks. But through prayer (the prayers of the righteous), I now feel great! When I testify that I am healed from the spinal stenosis I endured in early 2022, that is a true testimony. At the same time, I do not intend to suggest that I never have any seasons of physical pain or discomfort in various parts of my body.

That too is a part of the rhythm of life. But I am still healed of spinal stenosis and a slipped disc in my back by the power of God. It is the permanent sunshine that God brought into my life after a temporary gloomy season of sickness. The occasional pain reminds me of the agonizing sickness from which God has certainly healed me.

Seasonal changes keep the Earth alive. If the Earth ever stops going through seasonal changes, it will cease to exist! Undoubtedly, it was God’s promise of continuous seasonal changes for as long as the earth lasts in Genesis 8:22, that prompted Solomon to observe in Ecclesiastes 3:1a, 7a, “To everything there is a season… a time to tear and a time to mend.” When we accept and appreciate that God takes us through seasonal changes to work on us, prune, tweak, strengthen, renew, grow, and use us for His purposes, we will lose the stress and pass each test!

Don’t worry about the sapsucking pests that have, for a season, invaded the nation’s capital, nor the aches and pains that temporarily occupy our physical bodies. They are merely the refurbishing seasons of life.

Focus Quote: “My times [seasons] are in Your hand.”                    

                    –Psalm 31:15a (NKJV)

Please click the link below to see how to obtain a copy of my book, Standing on the Promises: Defeating Fear and Breaking Barriers

altonesumner.com – an inspiring motivational ministry.                  

Please continue to join us at 5:14 p.m. each day as we pause to pray.  Just pause and pray wherever you are.  Just connect to God and pray! I will also be praying with you. There is power in agreement!