Two Seasons

Psalm 27:5 "For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock."

I remember this day well..I was in the 4th grade, at Brookvale Elementary School in Fremont, Ca. I remember playing out on the playground for recess and I looked up in the sky as I swung back and forth on the swing set as I always loved to do. I saw a white, dusty looking speck coming out of the sky ever so softly. I truly did not know what this was, I thought to myself it could be a piece from a tree or flower drifting in the wind. Then I spotted another white element this time there were several! I looked around me on the playground and noticed all my friends jumping up and down chasing these little mysterious snowflakes coming out of the sky..."what? SNOWFLAKES?" Wow! You have to understand, a child growing up in the metropolitan Bay Area, this is something that never happens but probably once in that person's lifetime. Yes, we do go "to" the snow in the Sierra's but this was a big deal for us kids. 

I will never forget how I felt that day, the memory is still so fresh, even as I type this on my post. I can taste the air, feel the day as I ponder that moment in time.   It's funny to me, but living in California, you really only get two seasons. 

You know that feeling we all get when we say to ourselves under our breath "Oh I don't want this summer to end, or I love fall (or winter) so much, I wish it could stick around a little longer!"  I have come to understand the relationship with seasonal weather and seasons of life. When it's sunny and hot, we want it to end, and when it ends after all our griping, then fall and winter comes and we are sick of it and complain for summer. It's just how human nature seems to be. I have learned however that there is something special about learning to live with the fulfillment of contentment and how this shapes and changes us inwardly if we can stick it out. That being with the changes of weather, but more importantly with the seasons of change in life. We build character, patience and learn to value faith and hope during times of waiting for dry spells of life, the flood of adversity or the tornados of trials, well, sometimes they feel like a hurricane. 

Do you need to hide under the shelter of God's loving arms in your trials and season of life right now? Is there a place you can vacate to during the flood that's covering your house and circumstances? Jesus knows these feeling you have, He is our rock and fortress and shield. 

In Isaiah 4:6 It says "There will be a shelter to give you shade from the heat of the day, a refuge and protection from the storm and the rain"