In the midst of winter

I have been enjoying the beauty of autumn colors.  The golds and reds and yellows are unlike the fresh green of spring which heralds new life.  The colors of fall anticipate the glory of life's end.  In the process of dying the leaves offer a final surge of beauty.  It occurs that there is beauty in God's plan, whether at the outset of life or at its earthly end.  It's all part of His plan.  I have seen this cycle repeat for many years and I realize that I am now in the fall of my own life.  My leaves seem to go toward gray rather than lustrous rusty hues but there is assurance that as this leaf withers we are attached to something lasting.  We have not gone beyond the cycle of this earthly life yet but the colors of fall suggest that the Creator is involved in every stage of living.  In a month the trees will be bare of color and the leaves will have become brown on the forest floor.  I am glad that we celebrate the birth of our Savior when there is such little sign of life.  It is in the midst of winter that we need hope the most.

 

Isaiah 40:6-8 (New King James Version)

⁶ The voice said, "Cry out!"
      And he said, "What shall I cry?" 
      " All flesh is grass,
      And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
       ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
      Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
      Surely the people are grass.
       ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
      But the word of our God stands forever."

 

blessings,

Rob Smith