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Happy November, Friends!

This year, we are journeying through the Bible, discovering God's Promises. You can read our introductory post about why I chose this topic HERE. If you started with us in January, we are almost to inscribing 365 of God’s Promises. This month, we are set to discover thirty more promises of God in Scripture.

One of the verses we are inscribing this month comes from John 16:20.
Let’s take a look at this promise of God together.

John 16:20
“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.”

Autumn is my favorite time of year. As the long summer days come to an end, the short autumn days promise colorful foliage, crisp air, and all things pumpkin spice. I love autumn. But this year feels different.

I have been sick since mid-September with a lingering something-or-other that is throwing my whole mind, body, and soul out of whack. I haven't been able to enjoy the Autumn days like I usually do, and this has left me feeling very sad . . . depressed, you may say.

As I have journeyed through this Sabbatical Year (Leviticus 25), one of the books that has changed me deep down to the core is "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker J. Palmer. This little book of only 182 pages took me three months to walk through. I journaled and took notes on nearly every page. It is a remarkable book that I highly recommend. (You can find a copy HERE.)

In the final chapter of the book, Palmer walks us through the seasons and the paradox of autumn. I would love to share some of his words with you.

"Autumn is a season of great beauty, but it is also a season of decline: the days grow shorter, the light is suffused, and summer's abundance decays toward winter's death. Faced with this inevitable winter, what does nature do in autumn? It scatters the seeds that will bring new growth in the spring - and scatters them with amazing abandon.

But as I explore autumn's paradox of dying and seeding, I feel the power of metaphor. In the autumnal events of my own experience, I am easily fixated on surface appearances - on the decline of meaning, the decay of relationships, the death of a work. And yet if I look more deeply, I may see the myriad possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come.

Autumn constantly reminds me that my daily dyings are necessary precursors to new life. If I try to "make" a life that defies the diminishments of autumn, the life I end up with will be artificial, at best, and utterly colorless as well. But when I yield to the endless interplay of living and dying, dying and living, the life I am given will be real and colorful, fruitful and whole."

On the surface, we may be faced with difficult odds, Friend. The last two years have brought things up to the surface that we could never have imagined. Whether in our health, relationships, work, and careers, or with our neighbors and families. Things around us may look like they are dying. But is it possible to change our perspectives to see "possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come?"

I've been sad and depressed as I journey through this month-long illness. I want to go - go - go, but God is using even this to say REST. I am learning to yield to the interplay of living and dying - of doing and being - of work and rest.

Autumn is a beautiful season with lovely lessons to behold. As the days grow shorter, the leaves begin to die off, and the warmth is whisked away with cool breezes; let us remember that at this moment when all looks like it is dying, seeds are being planted. You may not see their growth for a few months, but they are there.

And as the Lord promised, your sorrow will turn into joy.
Spring will come. But for now, let us embrace autumn and the rest that it brings.

As you Inscribe the Promises of God this month, my prayer is that your sorrow will be turned into joy and you will hopefully look for seeds sown to come to the surface of your soul.