On my kitchen counter sits a simple bowl of dried beans, harvested from the vines in my garden. During the summer months, the plants were green and full of pods, but they weren’t ready to be picked. I had to wait until the plants turned yellow, the pods dried and rattled in the wind, and the beans inside fully matured. If I had rushed the harvest, the beans would have been soft and unusable. But in God’s timing, they became food that will nourish my family long after the growing season has passed.

Fall teaches us this same lesson. The shortening days and cooling air remind us that the world runs on rhythms not of our making. The writer of Ecclesiastes puts it plainly: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Just as beans ripen only when their season is complete, so do many parts of our lives. We may long for immediate answers, quick change, or instant fruit, but God is not rushed by our impatience. He is faithful to bring about growth and harvest at the right time.

The dried beans remind us that much of God’s work happens quietly, out of sight. Roots deepen before shoots ever break the soil. Pods fill slowly before the harvest comes. In the same way, the Lord often shapes us in hidden seasons—teaching, strengthening, and preparing us in ways we may not yet understand. What looks like waiting or dormancy is often the quiet work of transformation.

Fall is an invitation to slow down and honor these God-given rhythms. The beans in my bowl are a small reminder that harvest comes, not when I demand it, but when the time is right. My role is to tend the soil, water faithfully, and trust the process. God’s role is to bring fruit in His time.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado