Changes are Coming!

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19

Driving through the neighborhood, My husband and I admired the numerous trees that were changing from green to beautiful yellows, reds and oranges.

“Why isn’t our pear tree red like our neighbor’s?” he wondered.

Our tree forms a canopy over our driveway. As we passed under it, we saw only green leaves with a few dots of yellow. “Maybe ours doesn’t get enough sun,” I reasoned.

A couple of days later I walked my dog, returning to my house from a direction I didn’t ordinarily go. I was surprised to discover brilliant hues of orange, gold and deep ruby leaves accentuating our huge pear tree. Underneath it was still green. The leaves had certainly changed, although from our usual perspective, we couldn’t tell.

Isn’t that how it seems in our lives sometimes? We are quick to notice what God is doing in others, but we fail to see the changes He has wrought in our own lives. God assures us that He is doing a new thing in us. Do you not perceive it? God asks in Isaiah 43:19.

I am not advocating focusing too much on ourselves, but we can trust God to keep perfecting us.

For as soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up... (Isaiah 61:11). It takes time for righteousness and praise to spring up in us just as it takes time for seeds to sprout and grow. One day we will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail (Isaiah 58:11).

God changed my tree into an object of extraordinary beauty. If He adorns a mere tree, how much more magnificent will He make us?

Thank you, Lord, for the stunning multi-colored leaves of fall that remind us of your commitment to transform each of us.

Terri