Lessons from a Leaf…

I don’t know about you but one of my favorite things this time of the year is to watch the leaves turn all those pretty colors. The bright oranges, yellows and deep reds, it reminds me of being a little kid while Mom and Daddy raked all the leaves to the bottom of the slide and we all slid down right into the leaves, or being out in the fading light on Halloween trick-or-treating.

As I was thinking about all these pretty leaves I also began to think about the lessons that God teaches us through the changing of the leaves.

1) Our Differences make us Unique

I know that oftentimes it’s our differences that seem to tear us apart rather than bring us together. But I think something that we fail to realize is that those very differences are what make us unique and ultimately our uniqueness gives the world it’s beauty…

Imagine if at the end of Summer all of the leaves turned yellow…That’d be a little boring wouldn’t it. It just wouldn’t be the same. The fact that some trees turn red, others orange and still others red reminds us that there is beauty in diversity…

2) Everyone changes–nobody stays the same way forever

“People change” is a fairly common saying…but it’s true isn’t it? People do change. Life has a way of throwing things both good and bad at us that change who we are and make us reevaluate what’s important to us. Just as every year the leaves on the trees change color and fall to the ground, so too do people change. No one ever stays the same way forever and if that person has come to Jesus I can guarantee you that they are going to change. You can’t have a relationship with Jesus and not be changed for the better. In fact, the Bible says that by living a life according to His word we are being transformed more and more into His image (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16).

3) Let God be your guide

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed but not every leaf falls at the exact same time. Yes, they all fall eventually but all at different times. Some leaves appear to fall by gravity and others are carried away by the wind to land softly in a brand new spot of the yard, maybe even a new yard all together.

This reminds me to let God be my guide. Sometimes it feels like life is passing us by SO fast and we barley have time to catch our breath amid the craziness and other times it feels like we have to wait forever to get that particular thing that we desire so strongly. And often times it feels like life is just passing us by while we wait and wait. And wait. But here’s the thing we have to TRUST. Trust that God loves us even when he says wait. Trust that God knows best. Trust  that His plans really are good even while they don’t look good at the time. And we need to trust that His timing really is best.

Ephesians 3:20 has always been one of my favorite verses. It says “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”  This verse always reminds me not to settle for less than God’s best in every area of my life. As hard as it often is I find myself needing to relinquish my desire for things to work out my way and embrace His bigger and better way trusting that in the end it will be better than what I had originally wanted in the beginning.

Until next time,

Bailey Sue