As my young grandsons walked into my home, they saw a big change. It started at the front door and flowed through the house. There were pumpkins placed in many places around the rooms. Pictures representing the fall season had replaced the ones that were previously hanging. Bright orange floral arrangements were prominently displayed on tables and walls. Furniture was now draped with warm fall-colored pillows and throw blankets. Those boys walked from room to room taking in the view.

One of my grandsons asked me why everything looked so different. My reply to him was, “The season has changed, and I changed with it.” 

I love the seasons of spring and summer. They are, by far, my favorites because I like the longer amount of daylight and the warm temperatures. Yet, when the cooler and colder months come, I have to walk through them. As much as I might desire, I cannot force the season to stay the same.

Change in our seasons of life is kind of like a trapeze act. The trapeze artist lets go of one bar before taking hold of the other bar coming towards them. The trapeze artist is just hanging in the air for a brief second, but unless the artist lets go of one bar, they cannot take hold of another.

One of the things I have learned about life is that it is full of seasons. There are seasons of plenty, seasons of barely enough, seasons of dryness, seasons of great laughter, seasons of deep mourning, seasons of church hurt, seasons of family pain, seasons of great faith, seasons of doubt, seasons of victory, and seasons of defeat. Unlike the four seasons we experience on the earth, there is no rhyme or reason as to seasons showing up in life or how long they will last. The worst seasons seem like they will never end, and the good seasons are like spring and summer are to me – they go by too fast.

We cannot freeze time. That season you have enjoyed so much may end, but that does not mean the end of joy. Thanks be to God that the season of pain and sadness you endure will not go on forever. A new season will come.

Do you find yourself in a new season? Do you find yourself like the trapeze artist having to let go of one season to reach out for the next? The changing of seasons reminds us that we are not in control, but we can trust the God who is in control.

The Bible offers profound insights into the rhythms of nature, including the changing of seasons. As we transition from one season to another, here are six verses that reflect a God who is in control no matter the season.

1. “He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.” – Psalm 104:19
2. “It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.” – Psalm 74:17
3. “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” – Daniel 2:21
4. “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” – Acts 1:7
5. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1
6. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11

If you are moving through a season of change, let Jesus be your refuge. He will be your steadfast anchor. In every season we are a witness to God’s power. How we respond to seasons preaches a much greater sermon than your family will hear from a pulpit. Your response in your seasons of good, bad, blessing, and challenges preaches a message to the people around you. I especially want my children and grandchildren to hear from my life that God is faithful in every season. I want them to hear, “Seasons change, but God is the same!”

A while back I was watching a movie that was rather long. The more the story went along, there were lots of ups and downs and turns and twists in the plot.  Some of it was a bit sinister. I was not sure that I wanted to continue with the movie for fear of what the ending might be. So, guess what I did? I fast-forwarded to the last ten minutes to see how it ended, and it was a great ending.

Once I knew how it ended, I went back and watched the whole movie because no matter how hard some parts were, I knew how it was going to end. I knew the hard parts did not tell the final story!

As we walk in today’s world, it can make us yell, “Stop! I cannot take it anymore! The world has gone absolutely crazy!”  What can we do when we feel that way? We need to open our Bibles and turn to the final two chapters of Revelation again and again. Read those chapters at least once per week. How the story ends should increase our faith to live in the moment!

Revelation brings us to the end of the story. It pictures the new Jerusalem coming from heaven, where God dwells. We are told, it doesn’t need the sun and the moon anymore, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. There will never be a time when its gates will be shut, for there will be no night there.

No danger. No curse. No sin. No rebellion.

Man has never known a community unmarred by sin, and we never will while on this earth. Every generation since the fall of man has dealt with an earth that is filled with sin and sorrow. In the New Jerusalem, we have something totally unique: a sinless, pure, community of righteousness, a holy city.

One of the best things of all: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Some of you who have heard me teach, know that I often break into song singing:

“It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus, life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ! One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase, so bravely run the race till we see Christ!”

What we see around us now, will fade when we see Jesus face-to-face. Are you ready for that wonderful eternity with God? One day, Jesus will return to remove evil and make all things new, including His people! And that is a promise that should motivate faithfulness in every one of us until the King returns.

Fast forward to the end! It’s the best part.

Recently, my husband and I had a telephone conversation with someone we have known and loved a very long time. I remember listening as this person began to tell us what was going on in their family life. That call literally made me weak as I envisioned the situation. It was a hard gut punch. My heart was broken, and worry began to engulf me. I still remember the call, and I remember the fear, anxiety, and scenarios that played out in my head.

While that conversation played out in my mind, it caused me to stop and think of other situations in which we were emotionally involved. I thought of both my brother and sister who are facing difficult health issues, my brother who had just lost his daughter, and my niece who is facing a battle with colon cancer.

Remember the old saying “when it rains it pours?” Have you ever had a season like that? It is one really difficult, heart-rending situation after another, and there seems to be nothing but challenges ahead.

“God, please don’t let one more heavy thing come my way right now.”

As I have prayed about the situations in my life, I keep hearing this, “Will you trust Me with the outcome?”

In Daniel chapter three, there is a story of three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were faced with a dilemma. I know many of us are very familiar with the story, but if you are facing hard dilemmas in life, I challenge you to go back and read it again. Ponder the story.

These three guys were facing the dilemma to cave to the pressure being placed upon them or stand strong in their trust of God and risk sure death in a fiery furnace. Let’s remember that they are living this in real time. Real time is harder than reading it after the fact! They chose to stand and trust God.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were about to go into a fiery furnace. They were bound to make sure they did not escape the flames. It was impossible from a natural perspective. There seemed no way to break that which bound them.

Many times, in life, you and I are facing things that seem to have us totally bound with no way out. Our hands are tied, our feet are shackled, and we have no control over the situation. Oh, we might not be physically tied up, but mentally we are fighting the shackles of fear, anxiety, helplessness, and “what-ifs” that life situations bring.

Here is a question for us, “Will we trust God with the outcome, even when we have no idea what the outcome will be?”  Those three young men said, “Our God is able to deliver us … but even if He doesn’t, we will still serve Him.”  Their confession was, “We do not know the outcome, but we know the One who will have the final word in this situation.”

My favorite part of the story is King Nebuchadnezzar’s response after the three men were thrown into a deadly, fiery furnace. Then, King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a god.”

Notice, man had tried to bind them, but God gave them the power to walk about freely even though they should be bound. The trial actually freed them from that which had tried to bind them.

Sometimes, we all face waters that seem too deep for us and flames that are too hot for us. Let us grab hold of the promises in Isaiah forty-three. Read it from the New Living Translation.

“When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” – Isaiah 43:2,3 (NLT)

That is a promise you can hold onto when you are in deep waters, between a rock and a hard place, or in a fire of oppression. It is then that we can say, “I will trust God with the what ifs and the even ifs.”

My husband and I rarely go to buffet restaurants. There was a time that was not the case! We would go to buffets that seemed to offer miles and miles of food. Thankfully, food was grouped together, so we could scurry to the “good” stuff. I would pass the broccoli, salad, and cabbage. It was much more appealing to head to the steak, fried chicken, fried vegetables, and dessert – I mean desserts. Buffets are à la carte eating at its finest. Buffets offer the opportunity for one to go into a food coma and become useless for the next several hours.

Buffets are marvelous because one can feast on only what a person wants and leave the rest.

It seems that we are in a time of buffet Christianity where we take the Word of God and make à la carte selections. Choose the parts you like and avoid the other parts. Let me give a couple of examples.

Jesus had a lot to say about a real hell, and He made sure to teach that it is not somewhere one wants to end up when their eternity begins. Jesus had a lot to say about hell at the end of Matthew 25 and the end of Mark 9. These are the actual teachings of Jesus. Talking about hell from a pulpit might not fill the building, yet it is something that needs to be taught. Hell is a broccoli kind of subject – let’s head to the dessert bar instead!

Let me give one more example. I have been shocked at the number of Christians, even pastors, who think all roads lead to the same God. That is not what the Bible teaches. We are in a time when the true Gospel message is offensive to those who want to hang out at the dessert bar.

I recently heard a clip that went something like this, “Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can approach the Father except through faith in Jesus (John 14:6). You cannot approach God through good works. You cannot come to God by meditating on your inner self. We can only approach the Father through faith in the sinless Savior of the world. Don’t like that part of the Bible? Take it up with Jesus.”

Now to some, the above message is broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and cabbage all in one bowl!

Do you like buffets? Well, I can offer you a great one! Go to the one offered in the Bible. I challenge all of us to go to the whole counsel of God. Eat from all parts. Read whole books of the Bible and taste of the broccoli, the fried food, the steak, and the desserts.

Read the Bible à la carte on occasion, but don’t eat that way all the time. Don’t be a picky eater. We need to eat of all that God’s Word offers. Come to the table, taste and see that the Lord is good. Eat bountifully from all that He has to offer.