Daily Devotional

Last night was the first time we were able to sleep with our windows open. The temperature outside at bedtime was less than what we set our AC at. The blistering Fresno summer is starting to settle down into more comfortable temperatures. And my AC can take a break. There’s nothing like falling asleep to fresh cool air!

Fall used to be the season I liked the least. Why? Because it meant I had to go back to school. But since finishing school, and settling into my occupation, I’ve come to love fall more than any other season. The color change. The weather change. The smell change. It’s all about change. But in order to have change, it means something else has to go.

Seeing the trees turn from a rich green color to vibrant orange, red, yellow is stunningly beautiful. Then the leaves turn brown and eventually fall off the branches until the trees are bare. Then I miss the colors. But the bareness of the branches reminds me that something’s coming.

For every ending, there is a new beginning. Even with the leaves gone, the trees still stand, majestic, with branches extending upward. With strength and beauty.

When Jesus comes into our lives, He changes us. The old things pass away.


It is through the hard seasons of my life that I learn how much I am trying to control, how many ways I am doing all the work without relying on Christ. It’s like Jesus is up there going, “Um...Erickson...Hello...I’m right here. Are you going to try and do that by yourself, too?” He uses hard seasons to break me down...like leaves falling off the tree. And then as those new buds of spring start to show, He builds me up in ways I never thought possible. I let go and let Him work.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation