For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

For all intents and purposes, summer has passed, fall has arrived.  The lazy days of hanging out by the pool and Saturday afternoon barbecues are being replaced with football  practice, football games and football on TV.  The kids are back in school, some of you are learning the reality of “empty nests” as your children go off to college.  Recently I had a most strange experience.  I was sure there was a bit of a nip in the air.  I must have been imagining things, after all  it was 92 degrees!  But as I stopped to think about it, to let my senses take it in, there it was.  Something that couldn’t be explained but none the less very real.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about all that.  It’s been a good summer.  Lots of fun, time with family, vacation; I love summer.  At the same time though, I realized that there were other things to look forward to.  After all, Autumn is a wonderful time of year.  The beauty of God’s creation as the trees take on their color.  Finding comfort and warmth against the crisp morning air as I snuggle up in my worn out robe.  And, don’t forget getting back that hour of sleep that was lost back in the spring!

That’s how it is with life as we go from one season to another. Everything around us tells us that the current season is still with us, but from somewhere, in ways we can’t explain, we get those little signs – that sense from within that the season is about to change. Often, we don’t want to let go. We tend to keep looking back at what we’ve had, finding a sense of comfort in the familiar.

Most of us struggle with change don’t we? I think yes. Just as we look ahead to the change of seasons in nature, let us look ahead to the new seasons of life. And if we have days when we doubt – which we will, we need only turn to God’s word for assurance. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:”. The promise continues in verses 11-14: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil–this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.”

There are wonderful summertime memories behind us, yet if, like God’s creation, we will bend our will to His, there lies ahead a season of beauty, joy, comfort and of promise.