He Holds My Seasons!

I have been thinking the past weeks on the seasons that life takes us through.  The Lord created them.  It is His will for things to change.  We love the seasons when we are on the mountain top.  However, it is the valley that I seem to remember the most.  Perhaps because that is the time in which I grow.  This past weekend we took a trip to Jackson, TN., the place where Clark was born and raised, and the town that we spent out first ten years of marriage.  I took some time to drive around.  I visited one of our past homes. I drove and wept as I thought of the seasons that our life went through in those ten years.  The ups and downs, the growth of our marriage, the births of two of our sons, the times of laughter and weeping. 

Life often takes us through seasons that we share with others.  Our pain is lessened when we can share it.  However, my season of late has been with God and me.  It is a lonely place.  I have shared it with my husband, but even then, there are times when only the Lord understands and loves us still.  There are seasons when we sing, "It's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.  Not my brother or my sister, but it's me, oh Lord..."

During this time, the Lord has drawn me yet again to one of my favorite places in His word, the book of Ruth.  Naomi and Ruth certainly went through many of life's seasons.  I've often wondered if Naomi made the correct choice in leaving Bethlehem-Judah.  I realize the search for sustenance drove her and Elimelech out.  The fear of your children starving would cause any parents to run.  However, there were many that stayed and survived.  Her decision to leave her homeland caused such a season of terrible loss in her life.  A season of loneliness that I would never want to experience.  Yet, in her heartache she was able to return home.

Naomi changed her name to Mara, which means bitter.  She was determined, that because of her loss, the hand of the Lord was against her.  During this season, her bitterness made her unable to feel the touch of God, but it had not made Him unable to touch her.  One of my very favorite parts of Naomi's life is God's timing, the season in which He directed her back to Bethlehem-Judah.  She and her family left in a season of famine, wanting, and need.  However, the Lord allowed Naomi to return during the season of barley harvest (Ruth 1:22).  Harvest season is a time of rejoicing, a time of plenty, and time of joy! 

Earlier today, I was reading an article and a sentence jumped off the page and into my heart.  It said, "Appreciate this season of life."  My first thought was, "Are you sure, Lord?"  It is hard to appreciate the tough, frustrating, and lonely seasons.  However, the Lord is quietly confirming that He will eventually change my season, just as He did Naomi's.  He began to change Naomi's life from bad to good. As we know, Ruth's season bloomed into love, and Naomi became the nurse of Obed, Ruth and Boaz's son. (Ruth 4:16) The one who called herself Bitter cared for the boy of the lineage through which the ultimate Redeemer, Jesus Christ, comes.   Naomi's story is such a beautiful reminder that His timing is perfect.  He holds our seasons in His hands! 

Thank you Lord for the miracles that you bring with the change of life's seasons.