It is a windy, fall day in October, 2017.
After several weeks of beautiful Indian summer, mid-October has finally brought some more typical fall weather. It still isn‘t 100% what we would expect for the fall, however, for although there is a definite fall wind, it isn’t cold at all, and when I look at the trees at the back of my property, I see they are still green. Or bare. And the bare ones never really changed colours at all this year. In fact, until this seasonal wind, those bare trees still sported their full summer foliage. It would seem that perhaps the beautiful fall colours this region is known for will not be seen this year, for without the typical lower temperatures, they are being blown off the trees before they even change colour!
But this shouldn’t be a surprise for us this year. When we look at the seasons that we’ve had throughout these past months, we see that none of them have been typical. We didn’t really get summer weather, for example, until September, when we had to label it “Indian summer”. We had our worst snows in late March and early April, and spring didn’t arrive until late. And if I think back to last fall, I realize that the “fall” weather extended well into January and February!
Life throws so many changes our way. Every trial brings about unwelcome change, and just when we begin to adjust to the “new” reality, something new comes up to bring about even more change. In fact, it often seems that the only constant in life is “change”; and with this reality, I, for one, have always taken comfort in the regularity of the seasons. At least I can always count on that…
Until this year, that is. This year, I can’t even count on the seasons…
Fortunately for us, there is One who never changes: “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” (James 1:17 NLT).
I take great comfort in this. When everything around me is changing; when the circumstances and trials of life bring uninvited, continual change; when even the changing of the seasons, the one constant I have always counted on, appears to be changing its pattern, there is One Who will never, ever change.
Though it is already very encouraging to know that God is our One constant, James follows this promise with another very encouraging one: “He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word.” (James 1:18a NLT).
Wait. What does this mean?
It means that the unchanging God makes us alive…not by removing the changes in our lives, but by giving us His True Word!
What is His true Word? “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 NLT).
Jesus is the Word! God makes us alive, not by giving us a stress-free life, but by giving us Jesus Christ!
But the promise isn’t yet finished: “And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.” (James 1:18b NLT).
This means that despite the horrible circumstances that dump continual changes upon us, the unchanging God gave us Jesus so that we could become His prized possession!
Think about a prized possession in your life. It isn’t something you are careless with. In fact, you will guard it with your very life, and that is how God sees you!
Is life crazy? Have endless changes been forced upon you to the point that you don’t seem to be able to keep your head above the water? Do you feel that one more change will push you over the edge? Has change even been forced upon the former “constants” of your life? Take heart: God is unchanging, and the unchanging God, Who has made us alive through Jesus, has appointed us to be His prized possessions. This means that no matter what we are going through today, we can count on God to guard us with His very life!
One more thought…Although it is unsettling that the routine changing of the seasons can no longer be counted on, I, for one, am taking pleasure in the summer-like weather of this fall. And though this past summer wasn’t the warmest or driest in history, I rejoiced for the people who suffer from the heat. Whatever the change is in your life, God has also planted something there that will help you hang on, help you make it through. Your job is simply to ask God to help you see it.
And why wouldn’t He give you something to help you hang on? You are, after all, His “prized” possession!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, andScriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, withAnswers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.