Michelle Smith

Last Sunday afternoon, my husband and I went for a leisurely walk along Negwegon State Park’s beautiful, serene shoreline. The sky was breathtakingly blue and a gentle breeze kept the 85-degree temperature from feeling too hot. It was a perfect day to simply enjoy God’s creation while wading the water’s edge.

Everything about the day combined into a welcome contradiction to the October calendar date, but, even so, the brilliant splashes of gold-, orange- and crimson-tinged leaves tucked beneath the tall pines reminded us that fall weather was on its way.

I remember first learning about the fascinating process of photosynthesis in my elementary science classes. My teachers explained that fall’s cooler temperatures and shorter days with reduced sunlight causes the breakdown of chlorophyll so that what was hidden behind the green all along is finally revealed. What astonished me most was discovering that the yellow and orange pigments were in the leaves all the while but were completely masked by the green chlorophyll.

The changing seasons are God-designed and help mark the passing of a calendar year.

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease (Genesis 8:22).”

“The moon marks off the seasons and the sun knows when to go down (Psalm 104:19).”

“The day is yours, and yours also the night, you established the sun and moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; and made both summer and winter. (Psalm 74:17).”

I recently read that the state of Virginia has installed corrective lenses in the viewfinders of all its state parks. Those lenses are specially designed to allow people who are colorblind to see “a fuller spectrum of hues” and enjoy the vast array of colors that have been there the whole time but were just not visible to their normal sight capacity.

A Virginia state park ranger who is colorblind himself initiated that project, explaining that, when he first experienced seeing fall foliage through corrective lenses, it was “a feast for the eyes.” One astonished viewer asked, “And everybody just sees that normally?”

I believe that the changing seasons not only display the splendor of God’s attributes but are also meant to prompt us with an opportunity to refocus and to shift priorities.

Webster’s Dictionary defines a season as the time period when something takes place.

New seasons provide a time to ask ourselves things such as:

“What am I overlooking in my life?”

“What important matters have I allowed to stay beneath the surface that I need to address?”

And, most importantly, “Where am I at spiritually?

As beautiful as creation is, there is a hidden supernatural realm that far surpasses anything that we can experience in this life. The Apostle Paul writes these words in 1 Corinthians 2:9-11: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except the man’s spirit within him. In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

He goes on to explain in Verse 14: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Creation is intended to point us to our Creator!

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Romans 1:20).”

God truly desires to reveal Himself to each person. He is not only holy and all powerful, but He is also merciful and loving. He wants us to “see” Him and to know Him.

May I challenge you to use the changing season as an opportunity to evaluate where you are at spiritually? To ask God to remove the “colorblindness” from your spiritual eyes and to reveal Himself to you in a fresh way?

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:1).”