Mid-week Devotional:
Week of November 17, 2025
Scripture for this week’s devotional comes from the Old Testament book of Psalms, Psalm 104:19.
Hear the Word of God,
“19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.”
This is God’s word for God’s people. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
As I sit at our kitchen table this morning, I can see many of our gardens and trees plus our neighbor’s pasture behind us. Because most of the trees have lost their leaves, I am able to see the shape of the branches of the trees. There are very few straight branches. There are more branches that are curved. Some of them are reaching upward to the sky and there are others curving downward reaching toward the ground. There are some thick and sturdy branches while many others are thin and flexible. I can see the scars on the trunks of the trees where branches have broken off and fallen to the ground. I can see the clumps of green mistletoe in the high branches of the trees. When the trees had their leaves on during the summer the true shapes of the trees were hidden from view as were the clumps of mistletoe. Now I can see everything.
I had nothing to do with the change in the seasons. I did not command the sun to set earlier than during the summer months. I did not command the sun to rise later than during the summer months. I did not set the genetic makeup of the plants surrounding me to respond to the amount of daylight hours by dropping their leaves and becoming dormant.
Each change of seasons is a reminder that God is in control of all that surrounds me. My undergraduate degree was in biology and the complexity within the genetic makeup of all life is amazing. I am continually reminded that God is present everywhere and in all. And in that belief, I find calmness and peace.
In the days ahead, I pray that you take time to step outside and gaze at the living world around you.
May you see life present in the movement of birds and animals.
May you see life present in the dormancy of plants.
May you feel God’s presence beside you and within you through the beating of your heart, your ability to breathe, to think, and to respond.
I will be praying for you.
Peace be with you.
AMEN.