Four Seasons of Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in

Summer and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure ahead.

There are times in life when we become discouraged because of something bad that happened that we don't fully understand. When this happens, we are to be conscious to the fact that we have not seen the full picture of what is yet to come and should not judge that situation as purely negative. All of us have been through situations that seemed bad at the time, but when we look back on it months and years later, we see how that "bad" situation helped us grow in wisdom, strength and faith. We are to trust that God is in control and will work all things out for our good in His time. We must also trust in His wisdom and remember that we're in safe Hands no matter the trial or tribulation that comes before us. (Isaiah 49:13-16) (Proverbs 3:5)