I’m actually a fan of all four seasons. I do love summer . . to a point. But by the time September rolls around, I’m ready for fall. In my opinion, summer has a way of hanging around a bit too long like in the movie with the house guests that just wouldn’t leave.

I’d like summer better if it weren’t for all the humidity. But this is the South, and it’s kind of a package deal. Summer comes with bugs and humidity, period. You do not get to customize your season.

But I think the recent run of hot weather will only make me appreciate fall more, especially on those crisp Autumn nights where I can finally pull out my flannel. Plus, I have all my favorite holidays to look forward to.

Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall are all part of the cycle of life that God instituted so very long ago. The way life comes from death and new birth from barrenness is a picture of the spiritual life. Each season serves a purpose. If you took one out because it wasn’t your favorite, something would be missing and the cycle would be incomplete.

I don’t want to rush ahead. I want to savor the season I’m in and not miss anything by being too focused on the future. Still, I think I’m ready for pumpkins and jackets and leaves changing colors. Bring on fall, I say!

My boss where I used to work told me one time that any day without a toe tag is a good day. It took me a minute, but I got it. Any day you’re alive is a good day because God has you here for a reason. And that’s not just taking up cosmic space.

No one ever created in the history of the world was an accident. God made each and every one of us uniquely in His own image. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, not a product of random chance. That means you and I matter.

Only eternity will show the impact of our obedience and faithfulness. There may be people in heaven because of you. There may be people whose lives are radically transformed because you didn’t give up. You waking up and showing up to your life may be the difference in the life of someone else who’s thinking of quitting.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT).

“‘So the three mighty men . . . drew water from the well of Bethlehem . . . and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord.’ –2 Samuel 23:16

What has been like ‘water from the well of Bethlehem’ to you recently–love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing? Have you taken whatever it may be simply to satisfy yourself? If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything ‘to the Lord,’ other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

We aren’t blessed to hoard the blessings but to give them away. If we never share what God has given to us, it dies with us and no one is the better for it. But when we pour out those blessings and gifts, everyone around us benefits. We benefit. The Kingdom of God benefits.

How has God gifted you and what are you doing to give it away and pay it forward to someone else? That’s the secret to unlocking joy.

There’s a reason why Streams in the Desert is a classic devotional. I think this speaks for itself.

“Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your Name;
increase in us true religion;
nourish us with all goodness;
and bring forth in us the fruit of good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
Amen.”

I grew up Baptist, so I had little to no experience with responsive readings and liturgies. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate The Book of Common Prayer and other texts that use the liturgy in worship.

I do think that there’s something to spontaneous praying where you speak to God from your heart with your own words. But there are times when you can’t find the words, so it’s good to have tried and true wisdom from the saints of old to fall back on. Often, these written prayers will help you springboard into your own prayers.

I still love how I can come before God with nothing coherent and my mind is like a million internet tabs open all at once, and still God hears me. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit can even take our groans and sighs that are too deep for words and translate those into acceptable prayers to God’s ear. He prays on our behalf to God — God praying to God — so even those times aren’t wasted.

At times, a verse or passage will come to mind and you can pray God’s word back to God. I do think God puts those into our minds at the times when we need them the most. Those times are the best.

“What is my barrenness? It is the platform for His fruit-creating power. What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of His everlasting love.

“I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding, I will tell Him that I am still His child, and in confidence in His faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud” (Charles Spurgeon).

That’s the comfort. No matter what happens, I am still His child. There’s absolutely nothing that can separate me from His love. Nothing that I can do or nothing that can be done to me can make me ever not His child.

I still believe that. I still believe what the psalmist wrote about never seeing the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging bread. I still believe that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Worship is what happens when we get what God has done for us. Worship happens when we get who God is. If I see myself as basically good and self-sufficient, I won’t be as inclined to raise my hands in praise. But if I see my shame and backsliding and know that God still is for me and still loves me, then I will sing a little louder and live a little bolder.

“The prayer of a Christian brother who was in prison for years in Romania during the difficult years of the cold war. He prayed:

‘Lord, I look forward to the great day I see you and your family in heaven. I look forward to seeing the great evangelists standing before you. I look forward to the day I see all the missionaries coming home rejoicing with their sheaves. I look forward to hearing all the great singers of the world praising you. I look forward to seeing the great preachers of the ages standing before you.

“But Lord, I have one special request. When that day comes, allow me to be there in the clothing of a prisoner. I want to praise you throughout eternity in my prisoner’s clothes to always remind me that I was a prisoner for you.'”

Oh, may we and all who come behind us be as faithful as this man. May we patiently endure what ever God allows us to undergo for the sake of the gospel. May we never shrink back from difficulties or suffering, but may our witness in the midst of trial and turmoil be as loud as our words.