I love fall! It is my favorite season. The crisp weather, pumpkins, football and scarves just get me excited! I long to plant mums and cabbage, hang a “Happy Fall Y’all” sign on my door, and start a pot of chili on the stove to celebrate the new season!

Now the autumn season officially began on September 22nd, but as my fellow Southerners can relate, the temperature and humidity have stubbornly rebelled against the change. As a Southern lady, I have spent the last month “glistening” [Southern lingo for perspiring] due to the rebellious nature of our weather.

I look around me and see the leaves changing and the fall plants growing, yet the weather refuses to joyfully embrace the new season. The plants, the animals, even the people have welcomed fall, and I wonder why the weather insists on holding on to the past. Do we not do the same thing sometimes? Do we not go through the motions of moving into another season of life while gripping tightly and focusing our eyes on the previous season?

God created seasons to allow time for rest and growth and renewal. He made all of nature to thrive in ONE SEASON at a time. He made humans no different. We were created to live and thrive within seasons as well! We cannot go through seasons without change.

Notice the opening line from the poem in Ecclesiastes below.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

What about you? What season of life does God have you in right now?

Perhaps you are in a season of growth and wonder how much further you can be stretched because your body aches from the growing pains.

Or maybe you are in a season of rest and renewal and are plagued with FOMO (fear of missing out) or boredom due to your less active lifestyle.

Perhaps your season is far more challenging than your neighbor’s, and you struggle with envy because your disappointments are racking up in comparison to her successes.

Or maybe you are in a season of loss and struggle to hold onto your faith because all you can feel is numbness from the pain.

Perhaps you are in a season of newness and positive growth, and you long for someone to genuinely share in your excitement.

Or maybe you are on your way out of one season and into another one and not sure how you will weather the storm of change or how you will start over if you lose everything you own.

Each season is different, but one thing remains the same: GOD. He is constant. He is steady. His love for us never changes. His eyes never leave us. His hand is never out of reach.

Storms in life will come, and change is inevitable.

How can we remain joyful, even in the toughest of seasons? How can we hold tight to our faith when everything else is slipping away? By looking up to God instead of all around us. Know and trust that He is faithful and good.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” -Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV

ESV = English Standard Version Bible