“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

God’s encouragement…

Fall always brings this scripture to mind as summer gives way to winter. The days are shorter, the nights cooler. The vibrant rainbow of summertime blossoms give way to gold, rust and orange leaves. Wind increases and scattered leaves are mixed into ever changing patterns. Preparations begin for a quieter time when snow has silenced the crickets, and the songs of birds are muted.

Change is continual while we sojourn here on earth. Some changes are welcomed and celebrated. For these, we lift up prayers of praise to God. Our “thank you” flows heavenward from our lips to His ears! When a season of unwelcome change comes to us, our emotions can cause us to question God and His goodness. We can flail about and lose sight of Him. To restore our focus on God, to His timeless truths and never changing promises, we turn to His word. Meditating on the scriptures anchor us to Him and bring joy to our souls as He frees us from our dependence on feelings.

Below are 12 of the verses I embrace when I realize my focus has shifted from God. They reassure me of who He is, and who I am in Jesus. Truly, there is no limit to the blessing and transformation His word brings to us when we rely on Him!

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John 3:16-17

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Psalm 40:1-2

I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 16:33

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the LORD always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The LORD is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:22

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:37-39

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Image: original oil painting by Tom Lybeck: Autumn Along the Trail