There is nothing quite like fall in Tennessee. To live in Tennessee means you get a front row seat to the changing of four very different seasons. Each season taking on a personality of its own and offering very distinct lessons for the soul.
I am always taken back by the beauty of Autumn. The trees burst forth in an array of colors that you can only see during this special time of year. Deep reds, oranges, yellows, and even purples. It truly is a breathtaking spectacle.
Yet, they are dying. Take that in for a moment.
The inner beauty of the leaves is only revealed when they are dying.
Let me give you a very basic science lesson. As it becomes cooler there is no longer enough sunlight for photosynthesis to take place. The chemical chlorophyll is needed for photosynthesis to occur. Chlorophyll is what makes the leaves green. When the trees recognize that winter is approaching they begin to shut down. When the trees stop trying to make food, the chlorophyll is exhausted. As the chlorophyll leaves the bright colors begin to appear!
As we walk out our faith on this earth there are seasons of comfort. While we are comfortable we are living out the routine of Faith. (Wendy Blight, First5). Did you know the word photosynthesis literally means “put together with light”? While we are routinely in the word, and learning from the very light of the world, we understand what it means to truly be alive. (John 8:12) Our lives are fresh and green, displaying strength.
What about when the season changes and things go dark?
On June 17, 2017 my world went dark.
In my journal I wrote, ” Daddy has a mass on his neck. Tears. So many tears.”
From that day forward words were added to my vocabulary that I never wanted to learn. Every word creating a shadow over my life. Words like “mass”, “non-small cell”, “metastatic”, and “radiation”.
It is in the seasons of desperation that our knowledge of God moves from our head to our heart. (Wendy Blight, First5)
My father and I had many meaningful conversations.
He told me, “Erica, this is the time we fasten our faith down tight. These are the moments we need our faith the most. We can’t abandon it now.”
In this season when I felt as if I was shutting down, I began to draw strength from my roots. Roots that were tended to by my very own father. I dug down deep to remember lessons of trusting a faithful God. Lessons my father taught me and lessons I learned from my own walk.
I fastened my faith down tight with truth. I found a sermon called “Christ and Cancer” by John Piper. While crying out to God to heal my father, I leaned on the truth I gained from reading these words,
“The glory of God is manifested when he heals AND when he gives a sweet spirit of hope and peace to the person that he does not heal, for that, too, is a miracle of grace! O, that we might be a people among whom God is often healing our sicknesses, but is ALWAYS causing us to be full of joy and peace while our sicknesses remain.”
My father was full of JOY and PEACE while his sickness remained. That’s when I saw it!
COLOR. BEAUTIFUL COLOR.
Colors I could not possibly see in any other season of life!
As my father leaned on the faith he had practiced for 60+ years, I began to see a transformation in him and consequently a transformation in myself.
It was as if his faith was bursting forth in a beautiful array of colors and casting its light on everyone around him. My father’s life was growing more beautiful each day and the heart wrenching truth was … he was dying.
There is beauty in every season of life. Psalms 96:11 declares “Then ALL the TREES will shout for JOY before the Lord, for He is coming!”
The most astonishing part to me about the leaves changing colors was learning that all that beauty we see is ALWAYS THERE. It just can’t be seen in the comfortable seasons. It is only when the light grows dim that the leaves can burst forth in color.
If you are in a comfortable season right now remember you are in a gathering season.
Gather truth.
Store up strength.
Memorize scripture.
Pray.
When the lights grow dim you will need plenty of nutrients to survive.
Most of all remember that you will display Beautiful Colors!
Blessings,
Erica
