The last of the autumn leaves were falling like rain, scattering beneath my feet. I pulled my sweater tighter around me, suddenly feeling naked and exposed.
It was the fall of 2015.
A year has passed since then, but I remember well the feelings of change that swept into my heart that season.
It was a time in my life when God was doing a lot of pruning. I felt as if I was laid bare before Him with all my ugliness uncovered. I could relate to the empty limbs stretching out from the leafless trees. They made me think a lot about how God sees every part of me.
All the pretty colors of early fall were now gone, and there was nothing left to hide behind.
I wondered if this was how Joseph felt after his coat of many colors was long gone. As far as everyone was concerned, he was dead to the world, simply because of his brothers’ jealousy and dishonesty.
Alone and forsaken.
Stripped bare.
I felt like I was walking that road. There were changes in my life that God was using to slowly strip me of the obstacles that were hiding my true self.
Just as the leaves were blowing everywhere, I felt as if there were some things being blown away in my life. Some of them were comfort zones for me, and I fought hard against the wind of change. But other things were simply “good” things that were in the way of God’s “best” things.
I learned a lot of lessons during that season of my life.
- God always sees the beautiful. Even when we feel dead and used up, He sees life and hope. Because He looks through the lens of grace instead of the lens of comparison.
- God always brings Spring. It might not look exactly the way we envisioned it, but He takes the bare limbs of autumn and the cold reality of winter, and He makes something new.
- God always breathes grace into our empty places. In His grasp, barren souls spring forth with praise, and ugliness turns to beauty.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) says “He has made everything beautiful in its time . . .” But trusting His timing is not always easy. Just as it’s hard to imagine beautiful, new green leaves will eventually sprout from barren limbs, it’s also hard to wait on the Lord’s timing when our souls feel empty and the joy is gone.
But the Lord always shows up. And He tells us not to lose heart, because “. . . inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor. 4:16, NIV).
“Renewed.”
I love that word and the power behind it. In the original Greek language, it carries the meaning of being changed into an entirely new type of life. What an amazing picture of the rebirth God does inside each of us!
We can place our faith in God, because He is working inside each of us to transform us into something beautiful.
I am thankful for His renewal in my life. Step by step, He brought me through that barren season into a season of joy.
He can do the same for you.
Trust His perfect timing. Cling to His every promise.
And keep believing in the God who specializes in turning barren into beautiful.
In His Grace,
Sherri
Fill in your information below to sign up for my newsletter and blog updates!
(No spam!)
* * * * NEWSLETTER SIGN UP * * * *
The Bug says
I’ve really enjoyed watching your rebirth from afar (and feeling REALLY guilty that I couldn’t be there for you in the wasteland when you needed me). You’re an amazing woman of God!
Sherri Autrey says
Thank you Dana! Coming from a fellow writer & precious friend, your encouragement means so much to me!
(By the way, are you able to subscribe to comments now? Is it working?)
Sherri