A time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away [Ecclesiastes 3:6]
As we move further into the month of October, a splendid conversion in nature takes place, particularly in areas like Southern West Virginia where our funeral parlor is located. The lush green leaves on the trees that blanketed our mountains throughout the summer gradually transform into a gorgeous display of red, yellow, and orange leaves and then, they die, falling to the ground leaving colorless barren branches. In Autumn’s example of death in nature, we can find a spiritual lesson.
In this life, death is not only about the passing of loved ones. It is inevitable on many levels: dead relationships, dead jobs, dead plans and ideas, and so on. In all of these circumstances, it is understandable to feel and behave with a range of human emotions. We may cry, wonder why, or feel anger or disappointment, and often, we repeatedly try to revive the thing, but there comes a time to let the dead things go and trust God’s plans for our future. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” The process will be different for all of us and the timing will be different, as well, but our heavenly Father is patient and understanding.
The lifeless leaves of Autumn are a part of a cycle purposed by our creator. After a period of unproductiveness, new green leaves will fill the bare branches with life again and so, it should be with us.
Consider asking the Lord to show you the dead things in your life and give you the strength to “rake” them away so that he can show you the new life-bearing things that He is preparing for you. He tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you LIFE and death, blessing and cursing: therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that both you and your seed may live.”
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