I love this time of year! The sunny autumn days and crisp, clear nights, the geese flying overhead, the pumpkins in the fields, the crunch of leaves underfoot – it’s just a wonderful time to be alive!
What I enjoy most, however, is watching the leaves change. While I love watching the tender, new leaves unfurl in the spring and I enjoy the shade offered by the leaves of summer, it’s the autumn leaves which take my breath away. Yellows, reds, oranges, green and brown! Amazing!
The thing is, that beauty has been there within the leaf all along, but it is only in it’s last few days, just before it falls to the ground, it’s true beauty is fully revealed. All which has gone before – the rains and winds of spring, the heat of summer – have all worked together to lead to this last spectacular burst of color just before winter’s blasts leave the tree branches bare and the ground covered in white.
That’s how I want my life to be. I turned 61 this year. I’m entering my autumn years. Everything that has gone before – the trials and disappointments, the challenges and small victories – have served to mold me, strengthen me, and change me into the man I am right now. Like the leaves of autumn my true colors are starting to show.
My prayer is that God has kept His promise and “made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV) I pray that all which has gone before has served to mold within me “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. ” (1 Peter 3:4 NLT). I pray that when my colors all others will see is Jesus.
You too may be in the autumn of your days or still enjoying the wonder of springtime, but whatever stage you are in, you can live for Jesus. Let Him take all your wounds and scars, trials and disappointments, victories and defeats and make “everything beautiful in its time.” No matter what season you’re in, give Jesus control and let your colors show!