One of my favorite days of the year is what I chose to call “Leaf Out Day.” I live in Massachusetts and we have four full seasons here. Some more full than others after the recent record breaking winter. Almost every spring the entire woods around my house moves from millions of swelling buds to full, young leaves in a single day. As I write, today is the day!
I am not always able to watch, but I hate to miss it all together. I can sit on my deck and hear the leaves pop out of their protective coating. Then I can watch as they unfurl and expand. Looking up every once in a while from my work, I literally see the difference throughout the day.
I marvel at the creativeness of the one who made the earth and everything in it. The idea and the demonstration of re-creation with every season is a reminder to me that God never gives up on me or on you. If I “fail” a test in life, God does not throw me away. I get to take it over and over and over until I learn it to His satisfaction. Honestly, some tests feel a little like the movie “Ground Hog Day,” but even Bill Murray’s character eventually figured it out.
Every season is a renewed opportunity. Every day is a new day with the one who created us in love, sustains us by His love and offers His love to us so we may give it away.
Do you have a “test” you have been taking and re-taking? Can you sit with it a moment? Can you give it back to God…? Ask Him to let you see it from His perspective. Ask for the grace to keep going until “pass” and move on. There is always more to learn. Like the leaves and the seasons, Abba is faithful.
