A Change of Color, A change of Heart

There is one inevitable event that repetitively occurs in life.  One variable that is constant and can always be counted on to take place. The irony of this statement to describe the adventure, as it should really so aptly be described and taken as, is very…. well ironic.

Got any guesses? (I love word games)

Change…

Yes, that’s the thing. It is always going to happen and is always constant. Now you see why it is so ironic.

I, myself, have been going through a season of change and it really has been turning me upside down. The LORD has been challenging me in so many ways over the past few months and I feel like it is not slowing down. The blessing of being challenged and going through change is so encouraging and heart lightening, though.  My love, Ryan, has really given me such encouragement through this time of change, and has told me that when things change they should be counted as a blessing. Because in those moments and times where things are not the same as they used to be, where I am no longer comfortable in my surroundings, where I have NO IDEA what could happen in the next days to come, that is how we know God is at work in and around our lives.

Huh. I honestly never thought of that.

One thing is for certain, I am so thankful that my precious Savior has put me in this time of change during a “seasonal” change. He has placed a perfect picture of what is happening in my life right in front of me. As the tree leaves have SLOWLY (and I emphasize slowly because the weather has been so gosh darn inconsistent) changed color and fallen off, the trees are left bare and vulnerable. Open to any harsh cold wind, freezing rain, or plunging temperatures. But beneath the bark, new blooms are being born and work is being done.

Sometimes, more like all the time, I feel like God has to consistently freeze out my leaves so that they change color and fall off. It is in that moment where I am bare, helpless, and susceptible to all of the harsh realities that smack me in the face that He can strengthen my heart and change it to look more like His. Where He will challenge me to trust His ways over my own deceitful ones.

“(7) Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. (8) For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.”