Australian autumns don’t look like fall does in other places. We don’t have (generally) orange leaves that fall off the trees or Halloween. We don’t see an overload of pumpkins or Jack-o’-Lanterns and we aren’t rugged up in woollen jumpers or coats.

What we do have is glorious sunrises on crisp mornings with clear blue sky and evening fires as the sun descends. The rain begins to ease off and there is a fresh bite to the wind. It is a beautiful time of year.

And despite the differences they were made by the same hands. 

Autumn is a time that lends itself to reflection and cosy days. It feels like a new chance as we begin to embrace the cooler days and longer nights. It is the perfect time to begin again in our own lives. To encourage a change in the season in our hearts.

Even if our “stage” of life stays the same, Autumn is the perfect time to consider changing our life to better reflect our priorities and ensure that what we spend our time doing, is what the Lord desires for us to do.

It’s the perfect time to rest and contemplate and pray. 

The seasons are wonderful ways for us to reflect on how the Lord naturally created the world to shift and move.

The summery seasons encourage activities and fun while the wintery and autumnal seasons lend themselves to rest, rejuvenation and meditation.

So, if you’re searching for ways to enter into a season of rest with the beginning of Autumn, here are some simple, practical steps to guide you towards what the Lord is calling you to.

Literally Rest

Of course, as the days grow shorter and the nights are longer, it is vitally important to ensure that your body receives the sleep it needs.

God created the day for waking and the night for sleeping, and, if you are going to complete His mission for your life, you need physical strength.

The University of Queensland recommends that teenagers get 8-10 hours of sleep every night in order for them to function properly. Consider your own sleeping patterns, are you getting the sleep God designed for you to need?

Use these longer nights to your advantage and take care of your body because no one else can do it for you.

Rest your mind

You’ve probably heard it being said that in today’s culture we are constantly consuming media and noise from the world around us.

This is harmful to anyone, but especially young people striving for holiness.

How do we expect to hear the Lord’s voice if it is constantly drowned out by the world? 

Consider taking a break from the voices speaking lies to you or stopping you from hearing God, whether that’s in the news, social media, friendships, colleagues, sports teams, music, etc.

Sometimes, it is only after stopping the noise that we realise how much it was hurting us.

Rest your schedule

Physically attending or being part of so many activities can sometimes leave us burn out for God and for life. 

We have all felt so overwhelmed at times that the thought of getting up in the morning is exhausting and everyday takes physical will power just to get through.

That isn’t how God created us to live.

He designed us to honour and serve and love Him. Even as we go through hard times, we are supposed to be joyous because He gives us strength.

But if we fill up our schedule to the point of exhaustion, we cannot fulfil God’s will for us.

Furthermore, we leave no room for the Lord’s providence. 

If we pray for the Lord’s will to be done but then leave no room for him in our lives, do we really mean what we pray, or are our actions speaking different words to our prayers?

Rest your soul

Our soul needs rest and refreshment too. The world takes a toll on us and we need to be ensuring that we are filling ourselves with more of God than the world.

Spiritual rest might involve prayer, time of adoration, spiritual reading, attending reconciliation and delving into the scriptures.

Immerse yourself in the font of God’s goodness and give your soul the food it needs to be strengthened in the Lord. 

If you’re new to prayer or simply looking to deepen your spiritual life you can buy my digital Morning and Evening Prayer Journal Set here!

Rest your heart

Have you been harbouring feelings of heartbreak over anything? Problems in relationships, friendships, even jobs or difficult situations? Have you been stopping yourself from receiving God’s peace due to your own heart’s disposition?

Often our emotions can control our lives more than we realise. Maybe we don’t even notice, but we are living in a state that we don’t even want because we are subconsciously carried away by our emotions. 

Rest your heart by letting go of heartbreaks and offering them to the Lord . This doesn't have to be only romantic relationships but anything! 

In any way that you’ve been let down or misled. Any way that you’ve been given a false impression or betrayed. Any way that you feel the Lord didn’t deliver.

Give all of these emotions to the Lord and trust that He will heal you where you are broken. Trust in his saving grace.

Most of all, give your heart a break from the constant pining over something lost. If we haven’t lost our faith, we really haven’t lost anything at all.

Rest your expectations

Expectations and comparisons really are the thief of joy. If we live each day hoping and expecting and comparing what we have to what God has given to another, we will never see the blessings he has granted us.

Submitting to God’s will means letting go of expectations and hopes and dreams, knowing that what God will give us is far greater than anything we could ever work to give ourselves.

Let go of any expectations you have for anything - the rest of your day, week, month, year and life.

Stop comparing your own hardships to another’s blessings and open your eyes to the life God has made specifically for you.

Imagine what could happen if you took every moment as it came, never expecting to be given anything extraordinary, but instead living with childlike (or saintlike) abandon to the life God gives you.

Conclusion

Autumn is a season that encourages rest and regeneration. It is a wonderful time for prayer, reflection and meditation.

The season’s God has created are the perfect foundation for us to build our own internal seasons. 

Let us use this new start to recover and learn how to surrender to the Lord to emerge in the spring as new people in Christ who made us.