True Colors

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you."—Genesis 12:1

I couldn’t quite put a finger on it.  Why the tightness in my throat? I felt like I was on the verge of tears.   My steps were heavy as I crunched the gravel on the farm road.  A walk should do me good. But it didn’t seem like it was working.

Winter is on its way, I thought, noticing the migrant Canada geese gliding along the placid pond.  I pulled my jacket a little tighter and returned my gaze to my feet, watching every step, being ever so careful to avoid holes and obstacles that could cause a slip—and a fall.  Dry, coffee-colored leaves lined the lane and crackled beneath my feet.

Rounding the corner of the barn, I caught glimpse of a peacock—the same peacock I wrote about in late summer –the victim of the molting season who stood staring at his reflection, devoid of his beautiful plumage.  Now I was the one staring, stunned to see strikingly brilliant blue barbs cascading down his back—already his feathers were filling back in.

Suddenly the wind smacked my cheeks and prompted me to turn toward home. I lumbered down the lane, while star-shaped leaves left the knarled limbs of a noble maple and swirled about me like New Year's confetti. Except I didn’t feel like celebrating. Robust reds, flaming oranges, and sunny yellows pirouetted around me.  Except I didn’t feel like dancing. Instead I let the leaves trickle to the ground like teardrops. 

A fiery star splashed at my feet and lifted its freckled face toward me.  I couldn’t resist picking it up for a closer look.  Twirling its stem between my fingers, I remembered a biology lesson from days gone by.  In the growing season, chlorophyll gives the leaves a lush green appearance.  But in autumn the production of chlorophyll slows down and thereby unmasks the leaves’ true colors. 

I was still holding the leaf when I entered the house, my home I share with my daughter Emma and son-in-law Ricky and their baby girl—my 5-month-old granddaughter Layla.  And then I knew.  My melancholy mood stemmed from their impending move to a new city to accept a pastorate position. While happy for them, I knew I’d miss them and dreaded being alone.

“I’m going to need directions to the church,” I said.

“Just use a GPS.”

“I don’t like GPS. It only gives me one step at a time.  I want to see the whole list of steps.”

“Ah-hah! That’s it!” exclaimed Ricky, “You want God to give you the whole picture!”

Where did that come from? How did he—

But he was right. What I was struggling to put a finger on, he nailed completely.  I want to know what’s coming next.

Mark Batterson, author of All In, states that God won’t reveal the second step until we take the first one.  He only gives us one direction at a time.  It’s our job to follow it and trust Him for the rest.

Whether we can trust Him or not reveals our true colors.

God has plans for Emma and Ricky, and He has plans for me. Even though I don’t know what’s in store, I can trust Him, just as Emma and Ricky are doing—and just as Abram did. 

At the age of 75, Abram left Ur of the Chaldees and set out for the land that God promised.  He didn’t know where he was going, but he trusted God to show him. And he trusted God to make good on His promise to multiply his descendants as the stars of the heaven (Genesis 15:5). Years later when Abram was 99 and still childless, God reconfirmed His promise, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.  And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly…You shall be a father of many nations.  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:1-5). A name change for Abraham meant change was on its way.

Change will come—sometimes welcoming, sometimes challenging. But it will come. “To everything there is a season.”—Ecclesiastes 3:1

And our first step in approaching each new season is to trust God, for “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Dear Almighty God, Thank You for all the ways You remind me of Your faithfulness and love.  May I never hesitate to trust You, but follow Your every lead. May my faith be as innate as the instinct of the Canada geese and may I glide through the seasons just as well. Amen.