YIELD!

(Don't give up on the journey!) 

On my drive through the states on the weekend The Lord started showing me some things through trees. First there were so many hills filled with intense bright, beautiful trees! Honestly they were breathtaking! Next there were bare trees, the ones that had already yielded their leaves to the fall process. Both examples of trees were submitting to their individual journeys and seasons. As I continued to drive I saw a tree with a very long branch that was holding on to heaps of dead, brown, crusty leaves. This tree at one time had had an abundance of bright, full leaves but clearly didn't submit to the full process and season it was in. Although the leaves were dead, Im sure the tree must have taken comfort in knowing it still had leaves. I began meditating on these three examples. One was in fullness. At one time this tree had many buds, then small leaves, then big green leaves and now was at a point of complete fullness and beauty. The next one would have gone through the similar process but when the time was right it submitted to the next season, it shed its leaves and is now waiting patiently for the next season of growth and beauty. The last tree went through the first process of having buds, green leaves and beauty but got stale and refused to submit to the full process. Clearly making it not only an ugly eye sore but also unproductive. You see, trees need to shed their leaves in order to conserve water and energy. The trees that had shed their leaves aren't dead, in fact they're very much alive but relatively inactive externally. As believers we are so quick to try to look as bright and beautiful as others forgetting that none of our seasons are the same. We miss out on being bright and colourful when it's our time, because we didn't yield to the full process and transformation. We hold on to seasons we are to let go of because we fear man, or don't trust the process God has for us. 

There are some that will have their season of brightness and beauty when we are gearing up to yield our leaves. There are some that will be displaying their beauty when we are very much alive on the inside but we are waiting patiently on God for his perfect timing in allowing us to release another incredible crop. But there will also be times when we will be shining brightly and beautifully because we submitted tonGod and trusted the process. All three of these stages are vital in producing something beautiful!  

1. When we are in what may feel like an externally dormant season we need to stay focused and alive in Christ regardless of what people perceive on the outside. 
2. When He asks us to yield to the process...we need to do it, trusting He's ordaining our next steps.
3. We need to shine bright and beautifully! 

(The pictures of the children were taken from a Thanksgiving
Hike)

(Want to study more on this. Read over John 15 is an awesome parallel to this... than take a walk tonight down trees path and ask Him to speak to you about the season you're in.)