Growing Beauty

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever!  Amen."

It is starting - to me, the most beautiful time of year.  Yes, many love spring and summer, but I'm an autumn gal.  Everything about it makes my happy on the inside - the smells (apple pie baking and pumpkin candles burning; the feels (cooler breezes and comfy sweatshirts), and the tastes (apple crisp with a dollop of ice cream does it for me).  Yet, the driving force of my infatuation with autumn is the sights - the colors as they begin to take hold of leaves and become a canvas of beauty.

I saw this tree the other day and although the picture doesn't do it justice, it reminds me of the process of fall foliage.  Though it may seem to happen over night, it is truly a process - one where day by day, with all the right weather conditions, the leaves move from green to yellow to orange.  Step by step, the beauty starts to arrive.

It reminds me of our path with faith.  Although I have always been a lifelong Christian, it doesn't mean that I became a Christian and checked it off the list.  The journey of faith takes many turns.  I have had my fair share of poor decisions and difficult trials.  During those times, my faith may have been shaken.  I may have questioned God for what "He" did to me (we all know THAT wasn't the case).   I may have not have followed on the path He chose for me.

Yet, each wrong turn I may have taken, God was there waiting for me and guiding me back to the path He had paved for me.  With each turn, my faith grew.  I realized that the process of growing my faith didn't have to be complicated.  God just wanted me to have Simple Faith - and to watch it become something beautiful.  Much like the leaves that begin to change into something fantastic, so does our faith.  With each cool breeze, the beauty of faith grows.  Just like each autumn comes to bring us this beautiful canvas, so does each decision in our faith.  

It's not always easy to make the right choices.  The devil is waiting for us at each opportunity.  However, Simple Faith  is that God is waiting for us, He will turn our faith into something that is beautiful -  just like the autumn leaves.  Don't check your faith off the "to do" list - help it grow!  Open up that Bible to read a passage, pray to our Lord, worship together, and bring the beauty of faith to your life.  It's gradual, but the end result is everlasting!

Heavenly Father, help our faith grow in beauty and love.  May the choices we make, bring beauty to you and to others.  Let us realize that faith in you and love for others brings the growth we are searching for.  In your name we pray, Amen!