It’s the beauty of a deciduous tree in fall after a long hot summer. Each leaf, changing a beautiful shade of green, yellow, orange, and earth. The glow of a maple in mid-October is so vibrant that you can’t decipher one leaf from another. They all mesh together into a glowing bloom of color. There is so much beauty and promise in the leaves of fall, but that beauty fades, the vibrant colors die, and dead of winter approaches. Perhaps, there is a question to ask about that beauty. What purpose does this beauty behold for what has been and what will be? What good is that beauty if we just let it pass by and set our eyes on the barren winter ahead? In Joshua 23, the glamorous picture of fall is at the forefront. The promises of God made, kept, and received should be piercing the heart of the Christian reader today, as it most definitely did the original audience, the people of Israel, that would soon be shaken by the imminent winter ahead.
If we read ahead too quickly, we find ourselves in the book of Judges, and hardly a few pages later in Judges chapter two, the people of God turn their backs on him by doing evil, forsaking the Lord, and worshipping other gods. The Israelites crash themselves into a 325-year cycle of oppression and deliverance. They turn from God, they are oppressed, they cry out to God, God graciously delivers them, then they do it all over again… at least half a dozen times! But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The strength and wisdom we need to endure the painstaking realities found in the book of Judges, is to first stop, soak up, and drink in the beauty found at the end of Joshua. Look at all that God had done… Look at the promises he had made to Joshua and to Israel, look at the strength and courage instilled into the hearts of God’s people, victorious in battle, heirs of a Promised Land, conquerors, “Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed.” (v. 14).
It was the calm after the storm, and before the next. There was rest to be had and wisdom to be shared as they prepared for the winter ahead. Yet the worry of winter wasn’t their focus, to dwell on the difficulties to come would do them no good, the fears of the future, the angst of the expected, will only make one fail to admire the beauty before them. “For tomorrow will worry about itself - each day has enough trouble of it’s own.” (Mt. 6:34). Life is full of enough painful problems and negative news, and if that is all we set our hearts on, surely we will miss the wonderous grace that has been and is currently around us. It’s all too easy to focus our hearts on the wound whilst missing the triumph of a battle won.
As you navigate the seasons of this Christian life, don’t get so lost in the next season that you miss the beauty or lessons of the one that you’re in. Head outside today, or every day for the next week or two, since the window we have to admire the wonder of fall will soon pass. Make the most of it. Maybe it’s from your kitchen window, front porch, a walk through the park, or a drive through the backroads, take an intentional glimpse of the fall colors and witness how amazing they are… As you do this, spend some time in thought and in prayer, remembering what God has done in your life and in the lives of those around you, of the promises made and kept in his Word and in your life. If we don’t pause and saturate ourselves in the beauty and wonder of what God is doing around us and in us, we may not have the strength nor courage we need to faithfully endure the seasons ahead.
If we read ahead too quickly, we find ourselves in the book of Judges, and hardly a few pages later in Judges chapter two, the people of God turn their backs on him by doing evil, forsaking the Lord, and worshipping other gods. The Israelites crash themselves into a 325-year cycle of oppression and deliverance. They turn from God, they are oppressed, they cry out to God, God graciously delivers them, then they do it all over again… at least half a dozen times! But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The strength and wisdom we need to endure the painstaking realities found in the book of Judges, is to first stop, soak up, and drink in the beauty found at the end of Joshua. Look at all that God had done… Look at the promises he had made to Joshua and to Israel, look at the strength and courage instilled into the hearts of God’s people, victorious in battle, heirs of a Promised Land, conquerors, “Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed.” (v. 14).
It was the calm after the storm, and before the next. There was rest to be had and wisdom to be shared as they prepared for the winter ahead. Yet the worry of winter wasn’t their focus, to dwell on the difficulties to come would do them no good, the fears of the future, the angst of the expected, will only make one fail to admire the beauty before them. “For tomorrow will worry about itself - each day has enough trouble of it’s own.” (Mt. 6:34). Life is full of enough painful problems and negative news, and if that is all we set our hearts on, surely we will miss the wonderous grace that has been and is currently around us. It’s all too easy to focus our hearts on the wound whilst missing the triumph of a battle won.
As you navigate the seasons of this Christian life, don’t get so lost in the next season that you miss the beauty or lessons of the one that you’re in. Head outside today, or every day for the next week or two, since the window we have to admire the wonder of fall will soon pass. Make the most of it. Maybe it’s from your kitchen window, front porch, a walk through the park, or a drive through the backroads, take an intentional glimpse of the fall colors and witness how amazing they are… As you do this, spend some time in thought and in prayer, remembering what God has done in your life and in the lives of those around you, of the promises made and kept in his Word and in your life. If we don’t pause and saturate ourselves in the beauty and wonder of what God is doing around us and in us, we may not have the strength nor courage we need to faithfully endure the seasons ahead.