I love this little bit of prose that I recently found: Summer is now a wonder and gone as quickly as youth.
Spring is a lost memory. Winter is soon to be.
Farm young have grown--to near adulthood.
And days turn to nights.
Autumn is here!!!!!
Have you noticed that everything we know and love about October is happening right on schedule? God has appointed seasons to follow seasons with seasonal things for each one of the seasons as we experience them in the part of the world, we live in. For me that is the Midwest. Here in the Midwest, October is a symbol of harvest. It is a time to reap what has been sown. If you sow soybeans, then you will harvest soybeans. You would not expect to harvest pineapples. When I planted tomatoes, I expected to harvest tomatoes and not squash. I have been busy harvesting the last remaining things from my garden. Farmers are busy reaping the crops from their fields that were planted earlier this year. I cannot watch the field harvest without once again remembering that God is looking forward to His harvest of His family. He does not want to have a low yield harvest. He wants a bountiful harvest. As the Owner of the harvest, He does not want to lose or leave behind any of His precious harvest. Grain lost and left in the field results in a less than profitable harvest. God has invested in this harvest by allowing Jesus to give His life in order to reap the harvest, a time that is coming soon.
One of the things that I have watched happen around our farm this fall are clean-up, fix-up projects. Most of it didn't involve me--Yay!!! We have some very old buildings on our farm. Some were original to the farm dating from the 1800's. I can remember when they all looked red--the typical barn red that so many buildings of the day were painted. Red was used because it was cheaper and because it had red iron oxide in it that helped protect the wood by killing the fungi and mosses that grow on the wood. It also acted as a sealant. Then red became a habit for most farm buildings! Red paint became popular. But on our farm, we have neglected to keep up the red painting. Our formerly red buildings were not red anymore. Some were turning gray with red streaks, some totally lost their red, some had been covered with silver gray galvanized steel. Part of the fix-up project involved covering up the rotting wood with more galvanized steel panels. There were new doors and windows put in and some were covered up. Some of the rusty spots have been painted. And finally, walls that were supposed to be red are red again. Junk has been cleaned out and disposed of. Trees have been trimmed, some have been harvested, brush piles have been burned. So many things needed fixing and saving. I am so thankful for the efforts that have been made and for the willing workers. It hasn't been easy for the fix-it helpers! They have sore muscles and aches and scratches. There is paint where it doesn't belong, on arms and clothes. There is evidence of red and silver where green grass used to be.
God is our personal repair, fix-it Man!
Stephanie Raquel from Proverbs 31 inspired me to share more thoughts--hers and mine--about God, my fixer! Your fixer too!
God is always “fixing things” for us. No matter how badly things are going in life, we can live with hope, not fear. “If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:31b-32). God’s grace makes hope possible. Not just for today, but for all of eternity. Our heavenly Father saw a hurting, messed-up earth and then sent His only Son from heaven to earth so we would not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) And in one "push of a button or swish of a brush or pound of a hammer", by sending His Son Jesus, God said to our broken world: I’ll fix it. Having God “fix” our issues does not mean that all our problems instantly go away. It does mean that God gives us the strength we need through hard times, and He gives us an unimaginable peace beyond our understanding to endure whatever troubles we face (Philippians 4:7).
Could you use a fix-it button or repairman in your life? Do you need a little reminder that God can solve all your problems--both big and small? To know He still loves you, no matter what? Whether I’ve yelled or given up on a task, God can fix it. If I’ve been caught speeding or caused an accident, God can resolve it. If there’s too much month at the end of the money, or if an addiction continues-- it’s never too late for God’s unending grace to make right the wrongs in my life--yours too. When we turn from our foolish, even downright sinful ways, God’s kindness leads to our repentance and to having all fixed right again.
In Romans 8, Paul said: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, NLT).
How’s that for reassuring? Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. No matter what’s happening, God’s love for us is constant and forever. That’s the ultimate and greatest fix-it solution. The best fixer-upper of all.
