by Kathy Stanford

I always find a measure of healing peace when basking in the beauty of God’s creation. We have been traveling for a few days, and one can’t help but notice the fall foliage that is just starting to reveal itself. What a wonderful gift God has given us in this colorful world of changing seasons and exotic beauty.  He could have given us a bland, monochromatic place of mere existence. Instead, He gave us a wonderful dwelling place filled with sensory stimulation. And then He created us with the ability to enjoy and appreciate it!

While enjoying the new colors, I was thinking about how those colors are always present in the leaves but we can’t see them because the chlorophyll produced in the summer’s light over powers them. It takes the fading light of shorter days and the approaching death of winter for their beauty to be seen. This lead me to think about the work of God in my life. His word tells us that we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”(Ephesians 2:10) I began my journey as a Christian with all the wide-eyed enthusiasm of most new believers; short on wisdom and life experience but full of dreams and highly energized to “Make Things Happen” and to “Change the World”. I was like an awkward puppy rushing to investigate and get in the middle of every new thing. God had a purpose and plan for me, but the bright light of my eagerness was keeping me from seeing the real beauty of His design for my life. It wasn’t until I learned to be still (Psalm 46:10) and listen for His voice that I began to grow up and understand that God’s first concern is who I am in my relationship with Him (John 15:4-5). As this relationship grows stronger and more focused it blocks the light of other influences/distractions, revealing more clearly the hidden beauty of God’s design for my life.

Are you struggling today? Is the light of this world hiding the beauty of God’s unique design for your own life? Spend as much time in prayer and reading God’s word as you can. As you gain a closer relationship with God, He will reveal the beautiful design He has just for your life.