“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11a
Leaving when we did (October), one of the things I knew I would most miss is Autumn. It’s one of my favorite seasons, and with the exception of Nepal, I feel like I’ve been living in a never-ending summer since we left. Because she knew I would miss it, my best friend Carly helped me recreate Fall for a day when I went to visit her before I left. As much as I enjoyed that, I didn’t get the full experience of the leaves changing colors, the air growing crisp and cool, and pulling out my favorite sweaters and boots and blankets to snuggle up on those chilly days.
Seven months after leaving home and leaving autumn behind, I’ve finally found it again. Here in Argentina, the leaves are beautiful shades of gold and orange and brown and red. As we were driving into the mountains the other day, I was captivated by how much the changing leaves on the trees actually seemed to shimmer like gold in the sun.
As I see these obvious indicators of autumn, I’m reminded that this is how God set the world up, cycling through seasons. I haven’t experienced much of that as far as the weather is concerned this year. But as I enter Month 8, it’s an undeniable fact. We can keep running around the world to avoid the death that comes with fall to try to manufacture a perpetual summer, but eventually you have to stop running. That’s when the seasons God ordained from the foundation of the world catch up to you.
With that I am facing the realization that in a few short months this season in my life called The World Race is going to end.
But God never intends for death to be the final word.
One of the things I love most about fall, aside from my sweaters and blankets, is that it is such an obvious way God has shown us that there can be beauty even in death.
The leaves change color because they are dying. They fall to the ground, but that is precisely where new life is born. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).
Death is never the end. The death creation experiences in autumn and winter makes way for new birth in the spring.
I listened to a podcast the other day by Kris Vallotton about this very thing. He talked about how Jesus never saw death as final. Whenever he referred to someone who had died, he spoke of them in terms of sleep. All creation testifies to the truth Jesus was trying to teach us in this. Death is not the end. When we give God the things that appear to be dead (and sometimes it’s hard to give up things, even when they don’t seem to have any life in them), he is able to resurrect them.
Maybe all this is hitting me in a fresh way because instead of Easter leading into summer, for me it led into fall. We focus so much on resurrection life, and rightly so. But Easter is worth celebrating because of Good Friday.
I think God is teaching me that in order to experience resurrection we have to first be willing to surrender to the death that is an inevitable part of this life. But in surrendering, we are not submitting to death. We are entrusting our lives to the One who conquered death.
A podcast I listened to recently from another pastor, Brian Zahnd, included this quote, which stood out to me, “Jesus entered into death by death to fill it with himself so now to enter into death is to encounter Christ.”
As Christians we don’t need to fear death because Jesus overcame the grave. So instead of facing fear, we are free to find the beauty. And even as one season comes to an end, we can entrust those parts of lives to Christ who is “… the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
Christ is the firstborn from the dead. He paved the way through death so that now when we follow him, we have nothing to fear. And we can enjoy the journey, even through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4), knowing that we are on our way to the house of the Lord where we will dwell with him forever. Amen.
