Can’t You Feel It? The Feeling is Everywhere!

Those are some of the words to David Foster’s theme song of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. We were there and we felt it from our vantage point at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies where our daughter was a soloist and member of the Coca Cola World Chorus.

Indeed we were inspired in that vast audience from around the world — all ready to cheer for their Olympic athlete who would soon be competing in their sport.

Actually those memories and the words of the “Can’t You Feel It?” song flooded my mind when I looked into my closet and saw that, at last, I should put away my white shoes and pants because “Fall” might be close at hand. No longer do we have 100+ temperatures.

Now I am ready to change my home decor’ to Fall colors and accents. Fall is really my favorite season of the year. It brings cooler temperatures. I feel it. The feeling is everywhere.

But, my conscience is disturbed with all this feel-good feeling as I saw that over 5,000 people died in Libya, and thousands more were missing after entire buildings were “wiped out” when a seven-meter wave hit the northern coastal city of Derna,

Lord, have mercy! King Solomon provides us some comfort with the words he penned in Ecclesiastes 3. “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.”

King Solomon experienced the seasons and so do we. Best “seasonal” news is God is right there with us in all of our seasons. And, in all those seasons, He is working out His plans and purposes for our good. All of the seasons are necessary for us to learn, grow, and be resilient and determined to press through “the seasons”. The seasons are by God’s design to cause us to trust Him more — no matter the season.

Maybe you’re not “feeling” the feel-good feelings about the season that you are in — maybe you’re missing your child that’s gone away to college. Maybe you’re still looking for a job. Maybe you’re enduring the pain of a loved one in their final hours. Maybe hope doesn’t seem to be on the horizon for you today. The journey from here to there may seem like a dark and endless tunnel, but I assure you, one day, you’ll see the light and you’ll realize the gifts you received during these “seasons”.

If we remember that there is a gift in every crisis or challenge — in every transition of life — we will purpose to “feel it”. That feeling is the presence of God in the ups and downs of every season. As we discover the gift of His presence in every season, we will learn to trust God’s loving, divine purpose in it.

If we purpose to respond to each season from the “eye” of God’s presence within, where perfect peace and wisdom dwell, we will emerge even stronger, wiser, and freer than before. We may even morph into a beautiful, free butterfly for the first time because of the inner workings of God in our lives during these “seasons”. Can’t you feel it? The feeling is everywhere!