‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1

I have always loved fall in the Midwest. I love the smell of dying leaves. I love the beauty of the fiery oranges, reds and yellows that fill the hillsides around my childhood home. I love that the temperatures drop to cool, but not cold, and that bugs seem to take a vacation in the autumn. Walking outdoors is especially enjoyable. Warm sun soaks into your skin but doesn’t burn or drive you indoors with its heat. A light jacket will suffice and there’s no need for bundling up to keep away the chill. Dried leaves crinkle noisily under your feet as you accidentally walk over them or purposely kick through them.

Growing up, I’d take walks into the woods behind our home and soak up the smells of the season, or I’d climb the tall hill behind our barn so I could see the multi-colored beauty of the valley we lived in. I loved to wander, and would always end up singing-usually a song I knew from church. What began as a nature walk turned into a worship walk-a time when I praised God from the sheer joy of being outside in His creation.

I like each season in its own right-the anticipation of Christmas and the first snow, the fragile first flowers in spring, the first time to go barefoot in the summer-but fall will always be my favorite. It’s a time when I see God working in His creation in a way that speaks to my soul.

God’s Word says that there is a season for every activity under heaven, and that we can expect seasons of mourning and dancing, weeping and laughing, tearing down and building-a time for throwing away and for keeping, for being silent and for speaking (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Our lives are characterized by seasons. Not just the seasons that change the weather and the living things around us, but the seasons that affect who we are and what we are doing. Some seasons are prosperous and we thank God for His provision. Others are lean and we turn to Him with our needs, wondering if He cares. At times we are surrounded by loved ones, connected at the heart to those we care about most deeply. And then one day we find ourselves alone, surrounded by strangers who seem to have families of their own and no time for us. Weeks of sorrow are followed by months of joy, and our lives move forward.

Life is constant in its change, and seasons are to be expected. Whatever our season, one thing remains: God, who does not change like shifting shadows, is our constant. Every new season is a time for trusting Him to lead us closer to Him. If you’ve been questioning His presence and His willingness to help, you can stop asking and know that He is there, waiting to be trusted in the season where you find yourself.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight,” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.