Nature Tells a Story

During the day, we are still getting up to the 60's and sometimes even the 70's here in Tulsa, even though it dips down into the 30's at night.  The temperatures are a little higher than normal for late October.  As a result, fall has been somewhat late in arriving.  Walking through the neighborhood yesterday, I took some pictures of the changing leaves, which should have already turned brown and fallen to the ground.

One of the things that struck me as I passed by tree after tree, was that some leaves, which were hanging together on a branch, were completely dead, while others right next to them hadn't even begun to lose their color.  How could that be?  I know that the reason leaves change color is because nitrogen and phosphorus are drawn from the leaves through their veins, to be stored in the twigs and branches during winter months.  That stops the production of chlorophyll, so the lush green color fades and the other pigments in the leaves are able to be seen.  This process varies among different species of trees, so they change colors at different times.  But I couldn't understand why the timing would be so different on one tree.  Shouldn't they all change color together on a particular tree?

What if our lives are like this with all of our thoughts and energy being devoted to certain passions and the veins to other areas aren't being fed the vital nutrients they need to survive?  Or maybe, just like our skin sloughs off dead cells that aren't needed anymore, God has built in us a mechanism to slough off dead areas in our lives that we have given up.  I wonder, just like those leaves, if we stop feeding things like gossip or anger or addiction to porn or ignoring our children, will those things dry up and fall away?

God is so good and faithful to use His creation to teach us about life.  I challenge you to take a walk today.  And no matter what is it's like where you live (a warm beach, a snowy mountain, a dreary rain) look for God in His creation.  See if He speaks to you in the leaves, in the ocean, in the snow.  Open your heart to hear from Him, a lesson about your life.  I would love for you to do that and come back here and tell us what you saw and what you heard in your spirit.

God's creation is spectacular no matter what climate you live in and He will speak to your heart through it.  Here are some more of the pictures I took during my walk yesterday!



I'm linking up with Shanda Oakley's site A Pause on the Path, to see what others are saying about beauty.

From His Lap,