Missey

Butler

The change of seasons is always a welcomed relief, especially for those of us who have to endure those sometimes unbearable temperatures, whether cold or hot… day in and day out.  

Of the four temperate seasons, none of them excite me quite like the ushering in of autumn. To me it holds a unique appeal.

I'm not sure why it is that always around this time of the year, I suddenly come alive with a transfusion of vigor and vitality.

Perhaps it's the noticeable scurry of nature as she readies herself for the harsh weather. Or maybe it's the graceful descent of the orange, brown and red leaves as they quietly spin and toil to their waiting fate, the ground.

I love to watch my furry little friend’s, those precocious, fun- loving squirrels. They no longer have time to chase each other across the tops of picket fences, but instead are storing lots of acorns and nuts deep in the knotty holes of what will soon be their cozy winter dens.

Even the autumn, evening sky tells of a coming change by its horizontal streaks of amber, pink, and gold, outlining the silhouette of the sun’s departure. What a masterful painting our Creator strokes, as evening makes its sullen approach. The chill of the night air whispers through our windows causing a slight stir of the curtains and sending a reflex of a shiver.

Granted, I’m sure there are many people out there who are just as captivated by the allure of autumn, but there is another kind of “allure” that I’ve recently been reading about, one that I find deeply intriguing. You can read about it in the Old Testament book of Hosea.

Like a romantic novel, it’s the story about God’s promise to “allure” us to Himself by way of a beautiful betrothal.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will even betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know (recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to, and cherish) the Lord.  (Hosea 2:14-15, 19-20).

Isn’t that the most beautiful promise? I don’t know about you…but that loving proposal, that divine invitation to be joined in glorious union with the Maker of all heaven and the earth is hard to turn down. 

Our God can be very alluring in His advances toward us, His beloved. It never ceases to amaze me how awesomely faithful He is. At the very end of the chapter (in verse 23), He demonstrates once again His covenant-keeping power to us His bride, even when we are not always faithful in our responses to Him.

“I will show my love to the one I called, ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say…’You are my God.’”

Amazing, God is faithful to us, even when we are not faithful to Him. What greater love could there be?  How wonderfully alluring… how beautifully divine.

~

Those of us who are geographically fortunate enough to experience the change of seasons have to admit that autumn is certainly a very welcome and refreshing time of year. Most of us are just crossing over the finish line of the dog days of summer and are more than ready to fold up our beach chairs and drain the pool as the leaves and pine needles begin their annual descent.

The air conditioning units are shut off and the windows are gladly opened in order to allow the cool, evening breezes to move over us as we snuggle under a soft blanket while the harvest moon watches from a distance. Leaves quietly rustle as the wide-eyed owl softly “hoots” in perfect rhythm off in a wooded distance.

The backdrop of our everyday lives begins to reveal broad paint-brush strokes of oranges, golds, yellows, and browns. The neighborhood produce stand proudly displays its “Apples for Sale” sign, as the Granny’s, Red Delicious, Macintosh, and Rone’s compete to be picked. And, of course, next to them, no apple would be complete without the recipes of how to candy-coat or caramelize those beauties!

Nature and all of its surroundings gracefully unfold into a season of bountiful harvest. God’s agricultural laws of sowing and reaping show off their finest exhibition of fruits, vegetables, and grains that one could possibly fill in a basket. There is a longstanding formula of wonderful provision that first begins with the planting of a single seed.

This natural law of reciprocity is not just exclusive to plants and trees. There are many types of seeds that can be sown. There are the seeds of a kind word or a friendly smile, a helping hand or a pat on the back, a home-cooked meal or a heartfelt “I’m sorry.” On and on the list can go. All of these “giving of yourself” type seeds, after they are sown in the ground, can begin to produce quite a large harvest, as well. Let’s begin to gather up the fruit of the Spirit, for there are many souls in need of this particular bounty of harvest!

Did you know that April Fools’ Day is a holiday that is celebrated in many countries?

The custom of playing practical jokes on friends has been part of our traditional celebration dating as far back as ancient Rome. It is said to be related to the vernal equinox and the coming of spring - the time when nature fools us with the sudden changes between showers and sunshine.

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “fool” as a person who lacks good judgment or prudence. Another notable characteristic of a fool is that he can sometimes be rather gullible. A few humorous examples of past “tomfooleries” have been well documented.

The BBC television program Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. A lot of people wanted spaghetti trees of their own.

A report on television about the invention of dehydrated water was broadcast, claiming that all you had to do was shine ultraviolet light onto a powder and it turned into water.

As humorous as some of those past April fool’s jestings are, the Bible has some fairly strong words to say about fools. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us:

A uniformed deputy positioned in front of the courtroom loudly announces, “All Rise!” and immediately upon hearing those words, the sound of shuffling feet scurry to stand and a defining hush quietly settles over the room. The people’s court is now in session. Each person stands out of respect and regard for the appearance of the Honorable Judge as he makes his way from his chambers to the presiding bench.

The judicial setting can be somewhat intimidating (especially if you happen to be on the wrong side of the law). Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of security and satisfaction in knowing that we live in a society where our justice system, even with all of its obvious flaws, still works.

It works because God has set within our local and national governments levels of divine authority. As we search the Scriptures, we see how our municipalities and social rule have been orchestrated to run like a well-oiled machine. God has appointed key officials to preside over our society. And we are instructed to honor those positions of office for which they hold. This is God’s intended blueprint for implementing the law of the land.

Just as He has made Himself Judge over all the earth, He has made Christ the Head over all the Church. Our first obligation is to recognize God’s complete reign over our lives. Throughout the Scriptures, we see His total sovereignty over every person and every situation. We also see that there are many references to the importance of viewing God as High and lifted up, far above all principalities, power, and dominion. We are to worship and revere Him as the Great I AM.

His trumpeting voice even now sounds forth the message:

Now that we are coming to another anniversary of the infamous 911 tragedy, I find myself revisiting my own feelings of disbelief and dismay that tragic morning of September 11, 2001.

I would barely be getting through my front door each day after work, before my hand started reaching for the television remote, wanting to know how in the world were we ever going to survive the holocaust that was unfolding. Sadly, the news only seemed to worsen. I would sit almost in a stupor, as report after report unfolded circumstances of the worst case scenarios.

I found myself whispering “Oh God” a lot. Immediately I began to think of just how fragile our lives are and how meaningful the words “But for the grace of God, go I” had become to me.

Sometimes I couldn’t even put together the right words to pray adequately for all the desperate scenes that were playing out before my eyes. I remember hearing the voice of the Lord whisper, ”Will you trust me…even when everything around you seems to be falling apart?”  

And isn’t that truly where the hard lessons of faith are forged out? Where the rubber meets the road?  When we can’t make sense of anything, when human suffering is at it’s pinnacle and everything in us wants to loudly scream “Where are you God?” 

The only thing I know is that no matter how dismal and devastated our country seemed at the time, God was, and is faithful. In his perfect timing, He turns our brothers' and sisters' “ashes into beauty,” for those who put their trust in Him. Our hearts must somehow grab hold of even just a glimmer of hope, a mustard seed of faith ... is all that is needed in order to bring us into a much needed place of rest.

I speak from experience when I say, “I know in whom I believe!”  Our Redeemer lives! I know this because I spoke to Him this morning. Yes, He is as close as a whisper and as present as our own breath. The truth is, He never leaves us, and He is always there with us, especially during those times when we are forced to walk through the fires and tribulations of our lives.