Taking in the Fall

Fall time is a visually great reminder of slowing down and embracing your environment. We watch the world change season after season just as our lives do. Right before our eyes, the Earth begins to slow down and change color before allowing old things to die. The leaves change color, shrubs slowly lose their luster, and nuts from the trees are now grounded for creatures to collect.

This process of life is in front of us year after year, but it is so routine that we don't pay attention to the process. If you watch and consider the way God molds the Earth year after year, we could do the same with our lives. Isaiah 43:18 and 19 says,¹⁸ “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

In the fall, the world is shedding. It lays waste to all that is no longer fruitful, that's no longer habitable, and even the creepy crawlies that are no longer beneficial for its existence. What in your life is sheddable in this season to prepare you to be fruitful in the seasons ahead? Is it a job that is just a job and not your passion? A friend that really isn't your friend? A habit that only brings temporary relief and not full peace?

Deep down, you know the answer to these things because you feel the turmoil, stress, or tension each day. That thought in the back of your mind that always starts with the phrases "I should, I can do better, or I know I shouldn't..." We ignore these thoughts because life has become so routine to make it through. We ignore what could make it better because it would be hard. Yep! I said it. You don't want to do the hard thing because it may hurt or take what you consider is too much time. So instead of shedding things that should be of the past, people hold on to parts of their life like a security blanket because it's familiar and they know how to deal with it. However, if that is true, why don't you have peace? Why are you stressed, high on substances, or wrapped in a bubble of distrust?

To truly find peace in life is to be willing to do the hard things and the time-consuming things. It is a process. Each season is a quarter of the year. I wonder what would happen if we treated our lives like the Earth. Revisiting our environment and parts of our lives that need to be tended during that time, instead of waiting for what we believe to be the right moment. Which usually never happens, because you already missed it.

Think of it this way. What if flowers bloomed in the fall? They would quickly die as winter approaches. Let's say you had a thought that hit you like a train, and you could visually see every detail on how to follow through in January. You did nothing with the thought, got a little break in the Summer, threw it together, and it failed. "Well, I tried." Yes, but you missed the season because no prep work was done, the hard parts got skipped, and there was no process.

As my husband used to say, "Don't let life just happen to you. Follow the formula." What is the formula or process you need to follow to be fruitful? Not just a one-time, "If I do this". A process that you can repeat like the seasons to keep you with fresh fruit in your life year after year? No one can tell you how to live your life, but the right guidance and support can assist you with creating a process that will keep you fruitful.