Fall has always been a season of change.  I actually love this season…the kids are back to school, the colors start to change on the trees, the mornings and evenings are cool and the days are warm, people are back to church and pumpkins begin to emerge.  And of course those six glorious words are uttered: “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!?!”

And when you live in Petaluma, the traffic begins to slow on 101 because everyone is checking out the corn maze which they have seen every year for the last decade.  Is something new going to appear?  Sorry…I’m not bitter.

Change is a constant and the seasons are God’s way of showing that to us in vivid color.  The hard part about change is that we don’t always see it coming…we can get blind-sided…knocked off balance.  For some this is their biggest fear.  For others just the way the cookie crumbles.  I’m probably somewhere in between.

Watching my kids grow and realizing that I have a senior in High School and that I have been married for almost 20 years and that I have been in ministry for almost 18 years can be a little disconcerting.  Things are always changing.  Where has the time gone?  Even my goldfish, whom I affectionately named “wing sauce”, died this morning…suddenly…and without warning (sigh).  I got rather used to feeding him every morning and looking at him through the glass and talking to him about football.  I’m actually not even sure if it was a him…

But here’s the thing:  My trust in God is not predicated on everything being “the same” or of being afraid of what is next.  The Bible tells us that God remains the same.  That is a very comforting thought!  “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) “Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no shadow of turning…” (James 1:16).  He does not change!  

This is really important for us to wrap our heads around because change is going to follow us wherever we go, and rather than getting freaked out about it, perhaps we need to embrace it.  Why?  Because the source of our life doesn’t change…God is that steady, calm, rock of Gibraltar that is for us an “anchor for the soul.”

So as the colors begin to change on the trees and the mornings get a little cooler and football is once again blaring from your television screen, take it as a reminder that even though the seasons of our life change, God never does.  There is something about that deep truth that puts a little spring in your step and makes you straighten up just a bit.  Things change…but He does not!

I would love some of your own thoughts.  Please respond to this blog posting by commenting below.