And the Seasons Come, and the Seasons Go

What does mid-July mean to you? For most of us in Houston, Texas, USA (those of us too old for summer vacations, anyway), it evokes less-than-ideal weather images: 90-plus-degree days, 90-percent-plus humidity, frequent thunderstorms, and the year's first hurricane warnings.

To compensate, we get mild winters, beautiful spring days, and cool autumn weather. Everyone has a favorite time of year--and individual reasons for preferring it. And at less favored times, we can comfort ourselves that--sure as rain will eventually stop and morning will eventually come--humid summers will give way to mild autumns, gray winters to bright springtimes. As God said to Noah, "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease" (Gen. 8:22, NIV).

Of course, even the earth will not endure forever. The day will come when "the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.... But in keeping with [God's] promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:10, 13). Terrifying as the picture of the world coming to an end looks at first glance, we as Christians are commanded not to fear the prospect. Quite the opposite, we are to "look forward to the day of God and speed its coming" (v. 12, emphasis added).

Whether any of us see that day come during our earthly lives is ultimately irrelevant. The important thing is that we will see it, and that God will bring us a new, eternal, perfect earth.

Where bad weather will never be a problem again.

Sure as snow melts in spring and the world turns green,
Our Savior, our Christ, on this earth was seen.

And the seasons come, and the seasons go;
We will age and die, but the earth remain--
Till the fire of our Lord drives out all woe,
On that Day our Christ comes to earth again.

Sure as summertime days do grow long and warm,
Our Father, our Lord, keeps us safe from harm.

And the seasons come, and the seasons go;
We will age and die, but the earth remain--
Till the fire of our Lord drives out all woe,
On that Day our Christ comes to earth again.

Sure as autumn leaves fall and the trees turn red,
Our Savior, our Lord, rose up from the dead.

And the seasons come, and the seasons go;
We will age and die, but the earth remain--
Till the fire of our Lord drives out all woe,
On that Day our Christ comes to earth again.

Sure as winter snow falls and the world turns white,
Our Lord and our God is eternal Light.

And the seasons come, and the seasons go;
We will age and die, but the earth remain--
Till the fire of our Lord drives out all woe,
On that Day our Christ comes to earth again.