Beauty

Today as I was walking to class I looked around at all of the trees. Just last week they were all full of leaves. I love fall because all of the trees get their own sort of personality. They are set apart from each other but they are all beautiful. Today, I realized that the trees were bare. Sandy took all of the leaves off of the colorful trees. Then as I was walking back from class, I walked by a tree on my way down the stairs. This tree was full of leaves that were bright red with an orange tint. They were bright  and so beautiful. It might sound a little odd for me to be getting so excited over some leaves on a tree, but it is so much more than that.

To me this tree represents something wonderful. All of the trees around it had no leaves because when the storm came around they were not strong enough and lost all of their leaves. They were bare, and they lost their beauty. Then there was the bright red tree, that faced the same storm as all of the other trees but it stood strong. It fought the storm and it did not lose its beauty. It is quite a sight to see when you look outside of my dorm, but that tree is a fighter. I'd like to think that I too am a fighter and that I can with stand any storm. I would hope that when I face lifes trials I do not lose my beauty in the eyes of The Lord.

No matter the storm or the sorrow and loss that you and I face, we have the choice to stand up and give it all to the Lord or give up and lose. Think of yourself as that beautiful tree, think of us all as those beautiful trees that were full of leaves and life, before the storm took them. We are those trees, and every time we give up and don't fight in the storms we face we lose our leaves, it might take some time but we will lose them if we do not fight. I choose to remain beautiful and full of life, I choose to fight because the Lord gives me the strength to fight through this storm. We all have the choice to face the storm alone, or face the storm with our Lord and Savior.

Honestly the choice is up to you, as for me,

"My soul finds rest in God, my salvation comes from Him. He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken" Psalm 62: 1-2

Think about those words there. Every single time I read those words I am in awe of the Lord and His promises, and His strength. You may not always find that rest right away, but it will come if you let it. He is our rock, our solid and strong rock. My favorite part of the entire verse is that we will never be shaken with the Lord. We can stand strong we won't even be shaken.

I challenge you to take a step back and think about where you are in your life right now. When a storm comes your way, are you going to be the one that is left standing full and bright, or are you going to be the one that is bare because you didn't lean on God when you should have. God's wonder reaches so far and He is our solid rock. I place my trust in Him, and I have to believe that even through this storm that I am going through I won't be shaken and I won't lose my beauty just as that tree remains beautiful through a storm.