Does it feel like summer slipped right between our fingers? One minute we were knee-deep in sunscreen and s’mores and in the blink of an eye the air is filled with Pumpkin Spice.
I’m not a big fan of autumn. But I discovered something this week that I hope will stick in my mind every time the leaves fall.
I love, love, love summer. Soaking up rays poolside, sunset strolls on a sandy beach and absolutely every food barbecued are my favourite things.
Fall, on the other hand, has only three redeeming qualities:
- Ship the kids off to school.
- Magnificent autumn colours.
- Every day is one day closer to next summer.
As the days grow dark and chilly, I wonder if God gave me the gift of beautiful trees as a consolation prize. “Sorry Tess, summer is over and dreadful winter is on its way, perhaps this will numb the pain.”
It turns out there is some interesting science behind the changing of the leaves. Hang in for a minute – I’m about to sound super smart.
I recently learned that those exquisite fall colours seen spreading through the trees at every glance have actually been hanging out in the leaves all along. (Who knew?)
These brilliant hues are concealed within the leaf by green chlorophyll. As the weather cools and the days grow shorter, the tree breaks up the chlorophyll and the green gives way to the brilliant yellows, vibrant oranges and blazing reds hiding beneath.
Maybe this is an interesting picture of us.
Even though I’m a Jesus girl and His Spirit lives in me, I’m also masked on the outside by my own “greenness.” Parts of me are fighting tooth and nail with old habits, surging pride and weak-kneed faith.
God is changing me, bit by bit. (Praise the Lord!) I want my true colours to be visible. I want to be radiant, don’t you?
This doesn’t happen overnight. And it’s terribly painful. Our old nature is stuck like sticky pine sap. And at times it appears I’m a solid green leaf with no autumn colour in sight.
But here is what God says is Truth. We (His girls) reflect God’s glory as He is transforming us into His likeness! Girlfriend! Can you even imagine?
Listen sister, let’s pray that God will reveal His new life in us. That He will grow us and change us and make us more and more like Him. That the old pieces of us will shrivel up and die to make way, bit by bit and day by day for the glorious radiant Spirit to shine through.
Happy Autumn
❤ Tess
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6 ESV
And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. II Corinthians 3:17-18 MSG
