The past couple of days have reinforced, at least for me, that the fall season is upon us. The temperatures are markedly cooler, and I had to scrape frost off my car window one morning. I’ve seen frost on the ground, daylight is shrinking, and the leaves are changing. It either reminds me of the 1960s song by The Byrds (Turn, Turn, Turn) or Ecclesiastes 3:1:
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
There’s something both beautiful and bittersweet about fall. The trees exchange their green for shades of crimson, gold, and amber, painting the world with color before inevitably letting their leaves drift away. The air sharpens; the light shifts. Nature whispers that change is upon us, and that the rhythms established by God continue.
In our lives, too, seasons change—sometimes in ways that feel exhilarating, sometimes in ways that feel uncertain. Children grow up and move away. Grandchildren seem to age and grow from one visit to the next. Familiar routines shift. New chapters begin, sometimes before we feel ready to close the last one. And yet, the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us: every season has a divine purpose. God weaves meaning through every turn of the calendar and through every change in our lives.
It’s comfortable to cling to what feels familiar. But if the trees never changed to autumnal colors, spring couldn’t come and bring rebirth with it. Likewise, God sometimes calls us to let go: of habits that no longer serve us, of burdens we were never meant to carry, of expectations that keep us from trusting him. John Wesley once wrote that faith “is a continual dependence on the God who is the fountain of all grace.” That means trusting that when something falls away, it’s not the end—it’s preparation for what’s next … and the final “what’s next” is God’s new beginning of what will be.
This season of change invites us to hold life with open hands and open hearts, and to see God’s rhythm in it all. We can trust that God’s faithfulness will carry us from one season into the next.
What might God be asking you to let go of in this season so that new life can take root?
Prayer: Lord of all seasons, thank you for the beauty of change. When I am tempted to cling too tightly to what was, remind me that you are making all things new. Help me release what no longer serves your purpose, that I might welcome the new changes of grace you are planting in me. Amen.
