It was a windy, fall day in 2017.
After several weeks of beautiful Indian summer, mid-October finally brought more typical fall weather. It still wasn't what we would have expected for the fall, however, for although there was a definite fall wind, it wasn't cold at all, and the trees were still green. Or bare. And the bare ones never really changed colours at all last year. In fact, until that day of seasonal wind, those bare trees still sported their full summer foliage. In all, the beautiful fall colours this region is known for were not to be seen last year, for without the typical lower temperatures, they were being blown off the trees before they could even change colour.
But this shouldn't have been a surprise for us last year. When we looked at the seasons we had experienced throughout the months leading up to October, we realized that none of them had 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 the fall of 2016, I realize that the "fall" weather extended well into January and February of 2017!
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 last year, that is. Last year, I couldn'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 patterns, 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. 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, took great pleasure in the summer-like weather of last fall. And though the summer of 2017 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, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
