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Fall
Well October is in full display with pumpkins, haystacks and scarecrows and such and grocery stores are shelved with a variety of pumpkin flavored delights. The seasons have changed, for there is even a slight coolness and breeze that is in the air. The palette of browns, reds, golden yellows and neutrals bring to us a surrounding warmth of color as summer gently is transformed into fall.
Fall is a season that represents change, a change in weather, in color, in smells, etc. And while we do not visibly show changes like the ones we see in nature; we too are changing quietly within. For as we experience varied seasons of life; seasons of joy, defeat, loneliness, tough times, grief, insecurity, loss of personal treasures, and many times a new direction that we are unfamiliar with, we have to be ready to adapt and let go of the old and welcome the new. And welcome a new season that is before us.
For God declares the leaves, as they morph into a seasonal array of colorful beauty, to exist only for a limited times before they no longer can hold to the branches and fall to earthly ground, enriching the soil and preparing it for a next season to come. The leaves may go, but the tree remains with branches reaching upward and outward. For with every ending there is a beginning and for every beginning there is an end.
When change happens, it is a time when something must go. Some of our seasons are filled with welcomed blessings of beauty and light, while other seasons push us to us to rethink and trust and have more faith in God with things and situations that are not in our control. Those times are times when God is growing us and enriching our very soul to embrace the change that He is allowing to happen within us.
There are things that we hold tight to that God is calling us to let go of. Some of them are blatant tugs that keep pulling us down while others may be a subconscious distractions to keep us from doing and being our best. Just like falling leaves on a brach, we must let them fall in order for new growth to take place.
For the time has come for the old leaves of regret, misgivings, selfish ways and actions that do not line up with God’s loving standards to be dropped, so that the beginning of a new season can burst forth. God never wants us to stay the same, he is continually strengthening us, encouraging us showing us new ways to address and pursue opportunities that are before us.
I know that many of you have heard a similar analogy that compares Christ as being the tree and we are the branches that grow from the tree that is rooted in love and grace. And if you take the idea of seasons changing a tree from a beautiful array of color to bare branches and then as time passes, and seasons later we see the tree is once again in full bloom, then that is a little bit like the way God works with us. The more we let go and let God be the one who we go to for strength, direction, patience, and comfort, the more we will see the new perspective that he has waiting for us in the next season.
Psalm 1:3
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
Then, those leaves must fall, leaving that beautiful tree bare and vulnerable as it must survive the harshest of seasons. The tree must go through that season to begin a new life, a new cycle, with budding blossoms fragrant and beautiful. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
Take notice of the beauty of this season. It is filled with warmth and color and changes that are happening within each new day. This too is what God is doing within us. For as we muddle through each season of our life, we are changing too. Our perspectives are hopefully being molded by God as he helps us each day to accept his oversight and not challenge what he nudges you and I to do.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, .
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We are the branches of his remarkable tree, and the more we submit to the strength and nourishment that God gives us through His love and mercy, the more apt we will be to grow in His grace… Enjoy the season…for this is just one of many to come. \
Dear Lord, bless us as we confront the seasons of life that you allow to come our way. Help us to learn to defer to you in tough situations and ask you be our guide. Thank you Lord for your unfailing love consistent presence at all times and your willingness to intercede when we feel like our colors have faded and our branches are bear and we have become vulnerable. Strengthen our faith and give us the courage to let go and let you be our daily guide. Amen
(Oh and I have to say ….May God Bless our Astros…for they are now headed to the World Series. Those fall colors are a couple of their colors too!! May their season of success continue. Yes I am a huge Astro fan.)
Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!
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