True Colors

Dear Friends,

I hope you had a pleasant holiday weekend!  We have enjoyed some unseasonably warm weather these past two weeks in Alberta.  I took a walk on Saturday and it was so warm that I actually had to take off my jacket -- in the middle of October!  Thank you, Lord! :-)

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year.  It is a season of change; the air filled with a sweet earthy odor,  almost laden with anticipation of some sort.  This year, I've really enjoyed the daily five minute strolls from my car to the office, in the crispness of the morning, along streets canopied by Elm trees whose leaves are now spectacular shades of orange and gold.  Feeling the crunch crunch of the fallen leaves under my feet brings back a wistful remembrance of childhood days spent running and jumping in the leaves, without a care in the world.

During one of my brief morning walks, as I stared up into the brilliant blue sky contrasted against the deep yellows, I meditated on the fact that we only see the true colors of leaves in the fall.  Without getting too scientific, it's only when the hours of sunshine wane and the leaves stop producting chlorophyll, that the green
"mask" we see all spring and summer is removed.  It is an interesting irony, that the leaves' true beauty is only seen in a season of "death," before the long winter. 

I then started thinking about our own lives.  Often times, we can be as the leaves - when the sun is shining, things are going our way, and food is abundant, we appear one way.  We often wear masks. But when the sun stops shining, the air gets cold and we find ourselves in a season of "dryness," our true colors really appear.  It's easy enough to praise the Lord when we're living in a season of abundance.  But what about those seasons where it seems as if He is hiding his face and the sun is not shining on us anymore? Can we join with the Psalmist and say, "I will yet praise thee?" 

I pose this question not only for rhetoric's sake, but as a real examination of my own heart and life.  It is my hearts desire that even in difficult times (or shall I say, especially in difficult times), my true colors would demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  Rather than just shrivelling up and drying out on the tree, as some leaves seem to do, I pray that my true colors would be beautiful and pleasing for others, and especially for my Lord. 

May I, and all of us, understand that the challenges we face are crafted to refine us and produce in us pure gold fitting for a king -- the King of Kings!  Moreover, may we realize that for every autumn, there is a spring; for every sleep, there is an awakening; and for every sunset, comes a sunrise.

Just my thoughts for this morning :-)

Melissa

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
2 Corinthians 4:17

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5:3-5