Raised most of my life in the desert “Fall” never had much impact on my life. However, a few years ago when we first began to camp host in the White Mountains, I was awed by the beauty of this natural change.
The air gets brisk, the leaves begin to change – yellow, red, gold. And then they begin to fall leaving the branches bear and preparing to face the cold winter. But fear not, they will not die; they are just going through a stage of dormancy. They come back next Spring with new life, green and luscious.
Nature doesn’t fear change; it embraces it.
We go through changes. It can seem like our leaves are falling off and we are being left without a covering, but nothing could be further from the truth. God is our covering; He is our provider.
Why do we try to handle these changes on our own and then in futility say, “there’s nothing left to do but pray”. Prayer should be the first thing we do and then we should rest from worry while God works it out.
Psalm 138 is a short Psalm, only 8 verses but two major points are made.
1. The Lord places His word in the ultimate position of authority; it is ranked even higher than His name.
2. He promises to perfect those things that concern us.
So we should eagerly trust His word and let Him handle things!
“I will give You thanks with all my heart; I sing praises to You before the [pagan] gods. 2 I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word together with Your name. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life. 4 All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O Lord, When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled]. 5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of the Lord [joyfully celebrating His wonderful acts], For great is the glory and majesty of the Lord. 6 Though the Lord is exalted, He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship]; But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. 8 The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me; Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever— Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.” Psalm 138 AMP
Our heavenly Father makes a much better God than we do. He is asking for permission to intervene in our lives. He won’t force Himself on us. He won’t twist our arm until we give in and let Him help. But He will wait patiently and be there when we call.
Like the aspens, He has a plan for our future. Somethings must fall away and then new growth, new life will come.
Trust His word, rely on His strength, find peace in His provision and give thanks!