As we transition through seasons in a physical sense, I see the colors in the leaves of the trees and watch as they shift from vibrant greens to yellows, oranges, reds, and then fall away as they fade to brown. I think most people fail to realize that leaves always contain these colors we just cannot see them until the proper season comes around. When conditions change, leaves stop producing chlorophyll, and the beauty of warm hues of fall appear. They were always there but the green of the chlorophyll masked all of the colors. As the days get shorter, the photoperiod of the leaves activates a mechanism within the tree that conveys that winter is coming and so it prepares by breaking down chlorophyll and shedding its leaves. There is so much beauty to be found in this.
I am someone who is captivated by the beauty of nature. I see the hand of God so evidently within the ever-changing seasons around me. It is like an artist slowly perfecting a painting stroke by stroke in an ever-evolving masterpiece. I have always heard it said that a painting is never fully finished, the artist just decides when it is time for it to be complete for the time being. God is not done working. He is the Master Creator. I believe He will create for all of eternity.
I think each and every one of us can see ourselves in colors of the changing leaves. We are filled with so many colors that make us who we are, but those colors are sometimes only reflected during different seasons of our lives. I think we are filled with so much more than we would likely like to admit. When the Lord tells us we were crafted in His image, that means a lot of different things for us; it doesn’t only mean that we were created in the physical likeness of Him but in a likeness of spirit, body, and mind. It highlights the fact that we are all complex. I think that as we transition through the various seasons of our lives, parts of us we did not even know were buried within us come bursting forth to the surface of our lives. We see new strengths of ours shining in different moments just as we see new weaknesses coming out as well. It means that we are alive and growing. This is the cycle of life. Seasons change us just as they change the leaves. We grow in the midst of this. Each of us is just shifting from season to season displaying new colors of who we are. We are painted in the colors we carry. I think there is a certain beauty about how our lives can connect to the seasonal morphing of leaves.
The season of fall is a season of preparation. By the leaves changing colors and falling to the earth, the trees are preparing for winter. The reality is winter is coming. I think the Lord gives us seasons of fall in our own lives. Sometimes He prepares us in the most unlikely of ways that we only notice if we take a moment and zoom out, or sometimes it is even seasons later when we realize what our season of fall or preparation is for. God is faithful to prepare our hearts for the winter that is ahead. He is faithful to sustain us through even the darkest and coldest nights of that season. He is faithful to grow us in the richness of spring as new life bursts forth in that season. He is faithful to shower us in His love on the driest days of summer and bring refreshment to our hearts in the season of harvest. And He is faithful to return us back to fall where he opens our eyes and reveals Himself in the newness of the brightly colored unveiling of what has been hidden in plain sight for so long.
Seasons change. If the leaves were always bright yellows, oranges, and reds we would lose our excitement about them. They would become mundane. The rarity of the season is part of what brings about the awe of the beauty of it all. We come to value and appreciate it while it is here. Rejoice! There are colors hidden within you that you do not know you have, but a season will come when they shine through.
Sincerely, MC