Autumn

   Looking outside, one can see the different shades of colors shining forth from the surrounding trees. Their brilliant reds, oranges, browns, and yellows. It all looks make believe, like a vision from a child's mind, at least that's how I see it each year. I was listening to a song as I drove to work the other day, seeing the sun glisten off of the changing leaves. It was called "Beautiful Broken World" by Warren Barfield. As the song played I couldn't help but sit in wonder at the majesty that was sitting right before my eyes. The song begins with; "Wonderfully arrayed on a bright Autumn day, The leaves set the trees ablaze, I'm sitting here beneath, This decaying canopy, Sunlight sitting through the shade, It won't be long, Until they're gone away, That's the price we pay, In this beautiful broken world, We laugh and then we cry, There's a wonderful pain and joy, In death and in life yeah, yeah (Yeah this is life),Oh, we are living in this beautiful broken world". In listening to that song I began to think about the ideas written below. I hope that they bring a new joy and hunger into your life this autumn as they have into mine.

   Something strange happens every autumn, instead of the warmth of summer giving way to immediate cold and death that we see every winter, there is a pause within God's created order of creation. Instead of merely creating the trees to turn brown and have their leaves fall off as a sign of death and barrenness, God created the trees to scream forth His glory and majesty. "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." (Romans 1:19-20 ESV) God not only declares that He is God through creation, He declares the gospel. Think about it. Most of the time we think about trees as being full of life when they are growing and green, yet we forget to think about what the leaves mean when they change color and paint the most glorious pictures. Instead of the leaves falling limply from all the trees as the seasons change and merely creating a picture of the death and destruction that has so immensely invaded our world due to sin, God gives us a small glimpse into the glorious mysteries of what He has actually done for His children. 

   Who would have thought that something as simple as a tree could relay such an amazing message of grace and salvation? Let's break it down further. In the spring and summer months, the trees are all green and luscious and look as if they are thriving. Yet, because of the way that the seasons work, we know that their time is short. Soon, winter will come and there will death. However, there is a break in this cycle. Autumn. Instead of the leaves merely dying and falling to the ground to return to the dust from which they came, God grants them the ability to experience a new life, one full of color and majesty. And yet, the only way that these leaves can experience this new brilliance for all to see, if to actually die. A leaf must first begin to die, before it will change colors. You don't see leaves in the spring being displayed with the wonderful colors of autumn, because there isn't any death in the spring. Yet, this glorious display of God's goodness and mercies that He shows to His children, can only be experienced through death. And so it is with Christians. No one can come unto Christ until the human sinful nature is put to death and a person is called by God to come unto His side. Just as the leaves cannot merely change color at any time that they wish, so it is with people. We cannot merely come to Christ by our own power or will, but rather follow the designed order and structure that God put into place at the foundation of the world. 

   We must wait for the season in our life that God has planned for us. We cannot choose what season we want to be in. We cannot choose how strong we want to be. We cannot choose the tests and hardships that we will have to face. Rather, we must wait on Lord for His timing and call. So pray for those you know and love and all those that you do not know that God would bring the season of autumn into their life. That they would be able to experience the gospel in a new and glorious way then they have ever seen before. For without death and a season of autumn, there can be no hope of a coming spring.