July Devo - Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

The bright afternoon sunshine warmed me from the inside out. The flowers greeted me in full bloom, with colours so vibrant only God could have imagined them. It is summer in all its glory, my favourite season! I’m walking from Buchanan to Royal Columbian to visit two of my favourite people. Life is almost too good, until a bird, happily chirping in a tree branch above me, poops on my shoulder! Surprise bird droppings exemplify the “crazy” part of summer that belongs right up there with the “lazy-hazy” parts!

Every season has its beauty. That’s why I love our home here in BC’s Lower Mainland. We can appreciate the gentle warmth of a 49th parallel summer, the resplendent leaves of autumn, the greening rains and whitening snowfalls of winter, and the promise of resurrection life so perfectly illustrated every spring. But during those same glorious four seasons, some only see the summer heat waves, decaying fall leaves, slushy winter streets, and endless spring rain showers.

Remember, how we embrace the seasons of the year can reflect the attitudes we choose during the “seasons” of our life (Philippians 4:4-9). God created the seasons for us to enjoy while we wait for the new heaven and new earth to be finished. Right now, this is what we get, bird poop and all: As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease (Gen 8:22).

But if this world, with all its human and foul contamination, can still be so awe-inspiring, imagine what’s next! What God can create, when no person or bird can desecrate, will redefine what we now call beautiful. In the meantime, enjoy the lazy, the hazy, and the crazy parts of summer! (And be glad the birds are eating so well!).