Who doesn’t love the beautiful fall colors that come with the change in seasons? Growing up in the Midwest, I probably took it for granted, but it struck me after spending 14 years in Texas (leaves changed colors there, but not until January!). It isn’t just the colors that we love about the changing seasons, either. It may be the simple fact that something new and different is happening. The fall colors give way to snowy winters, snowy winters give way to lush springs, lush springs give way to the sun and warmth of summer. Then it happens all over again, each season in its own turn.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Change is good, but change is best when it is natural. Our culture tends to obsess over change. The next new thing gets plastered on our television screens and in our emails. Technology changes as soon as we purchase the last “new thing,” leaving us in the dust before we can even open the box. It is tempting to get caught in that restless pursuit of the next new thing, and then to import that into our faith, our worship, and our churches. But that is not the way of our Lord. We do not change by force, but respond to the opportunities He presents us. That is natural change, that is organic change, that is change in service of the gospel rather than the impatience and novelty of sinful humanity.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
So what opportunities has God given you? What chances for change and growth do you have? How can you minister anew to the changing communities in which you find yourselves, to all the diverse people within your church, to the broader world in all of its war-torn, impoverished need? How can you be part of that natural change in the spheres of life where God has placed you? How can you take advantage of this present season?
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Whatever sort of change happens, whatever sort of season you find yourself in, whatever opportunities you have, always find your stability and rootedness in the Lord who never changes, who remains the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Stabilize yourself on the Word of God, which endures forever (Is. 40:8; 1 Pet. 1:25). And do not neglect the timeless, internal rhythms and changes of Christian worship, the natural fluctuation of season to season, full with color and ceremony that bears witness to the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and the new life we have in Him.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).