Reflections on Fall

My childhood memories of fall are filled with pleasant thoughts…unpacking warmer clothes, fall revival at church, youth group hay rides, hot cocoa on crisp fall nights, harvest moons, campfires.  I love fall.  Fall is letting go, and accepting the impermanence of things.

The autumn of life is a strange mixture of nostalgia, blessings, and potential. It yields the harvest of seeds we’ve sown throughout life and braces us for colder days to come.  When life’s autumn arrives, we look back and better understand the way God led us; but we still have work to do—the best and fullest. It’s a good transition time.

“Autumn” only occurs once in the Bible. In Jude 1:12, false teachers are compared to “autumn trees without fruit,” implying that autumn should be a fruitful season, the most abundant of the year. How can we take advantage of the “autumn of life”?  We can use this to time to reflect on not so much what God has done for us but on what we have done for God and what more we can do.  Whether we welcome it or not, the seasons change.  Our focus should be on the God who remains unchanging, our dwelling place in all generations.

There’s a lot of unwelcome change in our world. We’re painfully aware our kids are growing up in a world far different from the one we knew as children.  As I reflect on fall and what it coming and going means to me.  I am more aware than ever that I am in the twilight years of my life…personal changes, children leaving home, the passing of my parents and dear friends, the slow but steady decline of my health all make me feel old and outdated.  But amid all of this change I am also reminded of my eternal God…He will never change nor ever forsake me. And I’m still here to enjoy yet another fall.  God’s not done with me, yet.

“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”--Henry F. Lyte

By Connie Hawkins for His Banner October 2017