Thriving In All Seasons

August is quickly approaching and with the start of the new school year comes the promise of Fall. It seems as if Summer just began and it is already time for the season to change again. I personally love the changing of the seasons because it reminds me of God and the way that he has designed our world. 

My favorite thing to watch during the year is how the trees change. They remind me of God’s promises in His word that there is a season for everything. Do you think the trees worry when their leaves begin to brown in the Fall? Or when the leaves begin to fall in the Winter? The trees remind me that change is normal, scheduled by God. Change is expected - and though the change in our lives may not always be as scheduled as the leaves changing colors in the Fall - it sometimes can be as scheduled as school starting in August. 

Change can create anxiety. When something changes we don’t always know what to expect. But God reminds us that He is always there to care for us even in times of change. He reminds us to: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26). 

As the weather becomes cooler and the leaves on the trees begin to change color, I challenge you to lean into your seasons of change. God has promised us that there is a season for all things. He brings us to seasons and He brings us through seasons. How beautiful it is to have a God who does these things for us! 

Trees do not stay the same forever. They take in water and sunlight. They grow taller and their leaves change, they flower, they fall. The seasons bring change in a beautiful way that can only happen in God’s timing. A tree can not simply grow taller overnight. A tree requires time, seasonal change, water and sunlight to grow into something different. If God can do such a thing with a tree, surely he can do such things with us!