Was It Really Cooler?

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

Was last Tuesday just a bit cooler? Did the calendar date marking the beginning of autumn fool you into thinking the temperature had changed? Maybe it was just our imagination, or that Dunkin’ Donuts pumpkin donut you just ate, but after 90s and 100s all summer, it felt different. 2026 has officially become the hottest year on record for the contiguous United States and Europe, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The summer of 2026 beat all other 132 years of record-keeping.

Unfortunately, the heat index may not have noticed that autumn is on the calendar, but nature has. Trees are starting to drop their leaves, birds are flying south, and the annual monarch butterfly migration has begun. These beautiful, unmistakable butterflies, with their bold orange-and-black patterned wings dotted with white spots, are beginning their 3,000-mile journey from north to south.

Monarch butterflies are a beautiful symbol of survival through the seasons. Most monarch butterflies live only 2-5 weeks as adults, but one generation of monarchs lives 6 to 9 months. This super generation of monarchs, also known as the Methuselah generation, benefits from the life-giving contributions of previous generations. Three generations help the one finally reach its destination. Sounds a little like our lives!

We welcome the seasons for the unique contributions they bring to the land and to us. We may not like some of the changes, such as heavy snow in winter, tornadoes in spring, blistering heat in summer, or the slow browning of the landscape in autumn. Yet each season brings what the earth needs, just as we face changes in our lives.

These changing seasons gently remind us of our limitations, our adaptability, and our need for others. The seasons invite reflection on where we are in life. We navigate the unique transitions of our lives in many of the same ways the seasons do. Scripture reminds us how fragile and temporary life is. “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:6-8

The seasons point us to God, who is ultimately in control. “He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.” Psalm 104:19. We realize we can do nothing to alter the timing of the seasons. All we can do is make plans, adjust to the season we are in, and celebrate where we are in life.

The seasons paint a vivid picture of how God carefully sets everything in motion. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22. We can rest in the rhythm of God’s motion without having to do anything on our part to effect change.

The seasons reflect the importance of being deeply planted. “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:3. The tree bears fruit in the spring, provides shade in the summer, its leaves fall to the ground in autumn, and it goes dormant in the winter. As the tree goes through many changes, so do we. We change and adapt, yet when planted in God’s word and purpose, we remain vibrant, no matter the season.

The seasons awaken a deep sense of awe as we enjoy the changing scenery. We are never bored in nature, simply because of the mysteries we can see when we are open to them. We see the old giving way to new seedlings and growth. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

“Nothing good in our humanity is lost. The memory of a body that works in health is more than recollection: it is now anticipation. The ache of true love once known but now sundered will be filled with glorious reunion. The feeling of the distant memory of Beauty, the ideal of Truth in a fallen world, the longing for Goodness that surfaces amidst the choking thorns of our wickedness, all these will find fulfillment when the first fruits come to harvest.”  Gerrit Scott Dawson, Jesus Ascended.

Tomorrow is assured because of God’s love. God’s fingerprints are evident in creation’s design, as seen in the changing seasons, a beautiful reminder of His creativity and presence. We know that as autumn comes, winter, spring, and summer will follow because of God’s enduring presence. Let each season reflect God’s presence in your life.

“It is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!” (C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). Unlike Narnia, where it was “always winter and never Christmas,” we can find a future because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

I don’t know how many seasons you have celebrated, but what a great assurance we have that we can “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

God is great!

Prayer Safari: A weekly devotional post to offer encouragement, hope, and purpose.