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Changing Seasons

Lucas and I enjoyed seeing the leaves fluttering down from the trees this morning as I took him to school.  We at first wondered why they were all falling since the wind wasn’t blowing. We had a hard frost last night, though, and today it seems the leaves realized it was their time.

The thing with leaves is they have been preparing for this.  They’ve known their host, the tree, was just a temporary one.  They’ve known they would only last a short time, months to be exact.  They’ve grown from tiny shoots, clung to its host during tornado season and scorching weather. But, they also knew they’d get one last moment to shine before they fell and they have been regaling us with their beautiful colors the past few weeks.  They’ve known their end was near and many began their quiet decent from their host today, joining their friends on the earth below.  Their usefulness and beauty have ended, but their lesson lives on.

Change is inevitable.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens...”  So, knowing everything must change, why do we fight it so much?  The tree knew its place, knew his resident leaves would be “leafing” (sorry, couldn’t resist!) and he let them go.

Maybe we resist so much because we haven’t accepted our place.  I know I like to be in charge, in control, in the know.  And I tend to lose my marbles all over the place when I am losing control of things.  But a valuable lesson I learned a while back helps put things back into perspective quite a bit for me.  When the Bible says “be still”, it actually means “let go”. “Be still and know that I Am God” (Psalms 46:10), or “Let go and know that I Am God”. “The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still” (Exodus 14:14). “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act” (Psalms 37:7) or “Let go in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act”.

The leaves knew it was time to be still, let go.  They’d accomplished their task, lived their life, provided shade and beauty and now they were letting go.  There is no shame in letting go. There is nothing wrong with change.  It can actually be freeing to let things go in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for HIM to act.

Oh, to trust Him like the leaves do! 🍂🍃🍁





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