Autumn: God’s creation of beauty

I love this time of year. The crispness of the early morning and the chill at dusk invigorate me. The smell of wood burning in a fireplace, a good book and an apple makes me happy.

Beautiful cottonwood leaves wear golden crowns looking up to heaven. Ornamental pear trees grace the landscape with deep scarlet leaves. Farmers’ fields display God’s faithfulness. Colors of rich brown earth and golden grain once again bestow a harvest with pumpkins decorating God’s artistic landscape.

Fall plays tag with the wind, tiptoeing through the treetops. Leaves begin to play “hide and seek” in amusement, while blanketing the ground with their bounty. Fall sweeps across the landscape in the moonlight, leaving a note written in frosty letters. Yes, the treasure chest of autumn overflows and spills over this time of year.

It is in the fall I hear wild geese flying high in formation and wonder how they instinctively know where God wants them to be.

Once again, seed time and harvest have occurred, bringing the assurance of God’s promises: “While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).

The earth has provided its fruit in all of its wondrous beauty. What started as a seed has now grown to maturity, bringing with it many blessings, even to a hundred fold.

God colors every stage of life with wonder, from the seed to the blade, to the plant to the full-grown ear of corn. Each stage has its own rewards.

I pray we will never take God’s many blessings for granted. Each day and each season is a gift. May we be ever thankful.

For the believer, the “harvest” of life has special significance. God’s colors display the beauty of the soul, the depth of trust, faithfulness, maturity and love.

I find it intriguing that leaves of summer become even more beautiful in their death in autumn. The Bible speaks of a dear saint’s coming home to Him as “precious.”

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

The child of God nearing the end of life reminds me of the beautiful colors of fall. The final stages before “frost” are the most beautiful.

Though weary in body, my 92-year-old grandmother’s spirit was gorgeous.

I took her a tape and played it for her. Our middle son did the preaching on the tape and our youngest son led the singing. The moment the service started both hands went up into the air as she shouted, “Praise the Lord.” What a memory for me. I witnessed the dazzling beauty of her last days before “frost.”

Granny’s scripture enabled her to look forward to her Savior: “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:24). To me, “the best is yet to be.”

So I think fall is my favorite time of the year, unless it’s the stark beauty of winter, the fresh scent of spring or the lazy days of summer. I am happy in every season God sends.

For now it’s time to celebrate the beauty of autumn. Take a walk. Sit in a swing. Smell the dew of early morning. Enjoy the gorgeous sunsets.

God’s beauty surrounds us and that makes life delicious!

“Happy fall, y’all!”