Psalm 67:6
Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.
–NKJ
Everything in the universe that God created operates in cycles. The purpose of the stars and heavenly bodies, as described in Genesis 1, is for the simple purpose of telling time. To tell us the passing of a year, when seasons come and go, each new day is marked by the rising and setting sun. OK, well, months are a little wierd, but there is some reason to that madness too.
At this time of year, late April, it’s the time to get out and plant seeds. Break up the ground, cultivate it, and plant. In our ever shifting culture to town and city life, and away from rural life, a lot of people forget the natural cycle of life and growth. We seem to always be on the go, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We plod along life at a constant speed all year long. There are times to take it easy and rest. We need that. Then there are times like right now, where we should be out there sewing seeds. Investing in our future. Getting ready to grow food for times when things are less productive.
God made our world so it can be selfexisting to some degree. He placed resources in the soil itself that gives back nutrients for plant growth. Plants that grow and feed animals, or give shade, or look and smell nice, or simply to hold the topsoil together. All of the vegetation will recondition our air to remove the carbon that we put into it. Plants are our real life support system.
To keep plants growing, God has built a world full of water. Water cycles have been studied and known about for years. How the water evaporates into the sky, forms as clouds, and drop their load as rain. Rain that feeds plants and animals alike, seeps back into the ground, and runs off through rivers back to the sea to start all over again. What God sends doesn’t return to him in vain, or without being fruitful.
Life moves in cycles. It’s the way God made it. Sometimes we are in a new growth stage, sometimes in a plateau of working, waiting and the daily grind. Sometimes we begin to see the full benefit of our hard work and kick up the pace to get the harvest in. Then it’s time to rest and enjoy the fruits of our labor that God has caused to be for us. Enjoy God in all of life’s changes.