While driving today, once again I found myself marveling at the splashes of autumn color.

It never gets old, does it?

Then I thought about what is coming : winter.

That can mean lots of snow, negative temperatures, and a bitter cold wind.

It means long, dark days that stretch into early March.

But set before, is this spectacular show that God paints across the landscape. I thought about how God does those kinds of things – like giving autumn before a pretty but often brutal winter and then the hope of spring.

The father heart of God toward humanity: He is with us.

It’s understandable how anyone would want to run from him, shake a fist at him, or worse yet, deny his existence. And still, God loves. Because if anyone understands pain, it’s God.

Yet, his world his filled with beauty in the midst of it. He made it that way purposely. And everything has perfect timing.

We can focus on the pain.

Or we can focus on the beauty.

And you can only focus on the beauty if you know the rest of the story.

 

***

photo credit: kathy moulton