How blessed we are to live so near beautiful countryside which helps us appreciate the changing seasons.

As I write the fields around Crondall are a hive of activity, as the combine harvesters work hard to gather in the ripened wheat and barley.

The weather has been so dry over recent month that the crop yield is much lower than usual this year.

We often hear about years of famine and plenty in our Bible. A low crop yield meant people starved, which is sadly still the case across much of the world, but in Surrey and Hampshire although we are unlikely to starve, there will be a cost of a bad harvest for each one of us, as food prices will inevitably rise as a result.

The returning seasons remind us that like the harvest, life is also full of times of plenty and times of hardship.

Christianity teaches that God has been faithful through the generations, and in his wisdom has set things up so we can learn to grow stronger and value things better when times are hard, as we ride the storms that lead to times of more plenty.

I recently read that when a queen bee dies a hive teeters on the edge of catastrophe. The queen is needed for any hive to thrive.

The situation can be remedied when nursing bees choose one ordinary lava and nurture that lava with nutrients so it can grow bigger than the rest, and grow into the queen bee so the hive may thrive once more.

In a similar way, God nurtures each one of us for our individual callings, if we open ourselves to his guidance and wisdom.

In his love for us, God promises to strengthen and guide us through our challenges to help us grow to spiritual maturity.

So as our farmers work hard to gather the crops that benefit us all, let’s also work hard to work through and learn from our personal life challenges.

Let’s work hard to love and support those around us who may be going through their own trials. Let’s ask our loving creator God to inspire and guide us, so that we can become his fruitful harvest in our turn.