FALL has arrived...

This morning I noticed that leaves were falling from the trees. Not just one or two but A LOT at one time.  I was reminded that fall has definitely arrived!!   I sipped on my pumpkin spice latte lite and enjoyed watching nature step into this next season.  I wish we could transition like nature does.  With a simple breeze leaves know to fall to the ground to prepare for the coming season.  I feel like that we spend most of our time waiting on that next season yet we never prepare for it.  We ask God to blow our minds and fulfill our dreams yet we choose not to act in our gifting. We allow our struggles and circumstances to swallow up our hope for what is to come.   God allows us to be on the mountain top and experience incredible views from blessings, to watching our dreams become real, or even seeing His word so clearly and living it out with such boldness.  He also allows us to walk in what seems to be the darkest valleys where we can’t see, hear or feel His presence in our lives. Tragedy is there and uncontrollable circumstances that choke the very life out of us.  What I know is that God is still God in all seasons. He is real and His desire for us to draw close to Him is the pull and transition from mountaintop to the deep places in the valley.  Fall is here and soon winter will come blowing in and we will wish fall was back and that spring would hurry up and nature will do its thing and trees will die and before you know it they will be blooming once again with the most beautiful blooms.  Our hearts are no different. You have been placed within this season for such a time as this and soon those dead limbs inside your heart will fall and NEW life will begin. We have to walk in the NEWness that God has called us to walk in and that’s our call to remain in Him.  It’s easy to walk alongside Him when you can see the most amazing view from the top of that mountain but when it’s dark in the valley we usually pull away and question His sovereignty in our lives.  I encourage you to hang on and to press into His heart because when that valley comes (and it will come) you will be resting in the presence of your Creator. He can and will carry you through you just have to surrender and exhaust all your own efforts.   We can’t understand the ways of God but we can understand that He is God and His ways are beyond what we can even imagine.   When fall arrives I want to soak it up. From the fair, to carving pumpkins and making my house smell like pumpkin spices. I truly enjoy every single day.  I believe that God wants us to prepare and enjoy whatever season we are in and hold tight when the seasons of what seems like darkness is surrounding you. God is light and He can see what’s around the corner and knows that whatever the results are He will get glory and pull out some incredible blooms within our hearts.  We have to think about those that surround us. God may be using your circumstances to draw someone to Him. They need to see your JOY in the midst of heartache and tragedy.   Frustration, anger and even numbness most definitely can set in but you can’t fake JOY.  You have an incredible opportunity to make God real. My prayer for you today is that you hold tight to His promise that He will never leave you or forsake you.   Let Him SHINE today in the midst of what seems like total darkness and know a beautiful bloom is on its way…….

 

 

Ecclesiastes 3:

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, .
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace