When we value simple things, hope and encouragement permeate our lives.
I love autumn. The heat of summer wains, fun holidays and gatherings draw near, smells of baking waft from houses, trees reveal beautiful yellow, orange, and gold colors, and leaves flutter to the ground.
The trees represent a promise.
Before I talk about that, perhaps you’ve asked the question, “Why do leaves turn color and fall to the ground?”
Less light and cooler temperatures trigger a miracle. Chlorophyll, a green pigment in the leaves, breaks down, which allows the beautiful shades of autumn to emerge. The fall colors abided there all along!
The tree reabsorbs the nutrients in the leaves and stores them in the roots. Trees rest during the winter, using this stored food. It’s God’s fingerprint on nature.
Ants employ the same strategy. Proverbs 6:7-8 says of the ant, “Which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.” (NASB)
Back to the trees.
After a leaf changes color, a process called abscission cuts the leaf away by the growth of special cells where the stem attaches, and these same cells seal the wound. The bare branches in winter help protect the tree from harsh weather, and in spring allow wind-blown pollen to travel longer distances and reach more trees.
So what’s the promise? Though trees look barren and forlorn during winter, they’re not dead. In time, they’ll burst forth with new growth. It’s a done deal.
I see a parallel in my life. I’ve felt the grief of losing my dad and mom, the agony and betrayal of divorce, serious financial stress, and the uncertainty and fear of cancer treatment. As an R.N., I’ve comforted others going through difficult times. Many of you have experienced similar trials.
I’ve also known healing, renewal, and the joy of a supportive Christian wife who shows me love every day no matter how unlovable I am.
In bleak and empty times of my life, I’ve tried to remember sadness won’t last forever.
Lamentations 3:22-23 gives us hope beyond the winters of our lives, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Your faithfulness.”
Charles Spurgeon phrased it, “Fear not, Christian, for Jesus is with you. In all your fiery trials His presence is both your comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own.”
When I feel distant from God’s faithfulness, I rely on the encouragement found in scripture, and recall all the things He has done for me.
I think about how He manifests Himself in the world around me, the qualities of His nature, and on His compassion and mercy.
I pray to Him directly, seek His will in the situation and wait upon Him.
Yes, I stumble through this process, often with the help of trusted friends, but I have learned times of distress and sorrow will pass.
The tree of life will blossom again into a beautiful new season.
I hope you’ll know the same during winters of your life, one prayer at a time.
Enjoy the wonders of fall.