Happy fall, friends! We are in my favorite month and my favorite season. I just love October! The crisp mornings. The cozy outfits. The colorful leaves. What about you? What’s your favorite season and what makes it your favorite? 

The changing of seasons has me thinking about and feeling so thankful for the God who designed and determines these changes.

This SLOW (🫠) transition from summer to fall keeps bringing this scripture to my mind;

“The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (AMP)

Let’s be honest, if we had it our way, most of us would move through seasons and transitions much more quickly than He does. In fact, we would keep the ones we don’t prefer or that cause pain out altogether. We have our preferences, and we prefer that Jesus submit to them, especially when it comes to our personal lives. Instead, we are called to submit to His process as we are His followers, not the other way around.

In order to submit to His plan and process, we have to be confident that His thoughts are higher and His ways are better (Isaiah 55:8-9). We also have to understand that He is intentional in everything He does and designs. In this context and through this truth, we are reminded that every season, both physically and spiritually, serves an intentional purpose. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says,

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

What we often perceive as the Lord being slow to His promise is actually His love, kindness and patience on display…we just have to shift our perspective from earthly to eternal. He is often fulfilling His promises in ways we can’t see or understand from our limited perspective. Isn’t that an amazing thought to consider?

When we find ourselves growing increasingly impatient, we can begin to thank Him for His process and intentionality. We have an opportunity to thank Him for what He is doing that we can’t always see or understand, even when it’s uncomfortable, and even painful. These prayers of faith will grow and stretch us in amazing ways if we pray them with sincerity.

I feel led to challenge you to consider what you are wishing away. I would dare to say that sometimes we are wishing away the very thing that God is using to reveal Himself to us or to produce something good and necessary within us. These experiences help to grow us into who He has created us to be and what He has called us to do.

When you feel restless, ask Him to help you recognize what He is revealing to you in the moment. Remember that His process always aligns with His desire for none to perish and all to come to repentance. Although He cares about our personal and individual lives more than we can imagine, we can’t forget that we are a part of a bigger, eternal picture! When we look at seasons and circumstances, even the most difficult ones, through that lens, the wait is worth it.

The times of transition and change are often the ones that teach us to remain reliant on the One who never changes. They keep us anchored in truth when feelings fade. They challenge us to surrender and lead us to a place of deeper trust in Jesus. They help rid us of complacency and produce patience with us.

Fruit can’t grow without seasons and producing fruit is what we are called to do as believers. The seasons are vital to life itself all around us! So when you are like me and you wish it would be fall, but it seems like summer will never end… begin to thank Jesus for His intentional purpose for summer.

More importantly, when you find yourself in the difficult seasons of life and it feels like they will never end, thank Jesus for how He is intentionally working to produce good things in the midst of the challenge you are facing – both the things you can and cannot see.

Because – before you know it, the next season will come and you will be wishing again for what’s next. It’s the way He has designed it, for seasons to change. The evidence of His hand at work is in it all. He is purposeful and intentional in all He designs. Your life and story are no exception to this unchanging truth.

Through it all, He is constant. Through it all, He is faithful.