Autumn

After a long, hot summer that kept the leaves green well into October, Autumn finally arrived. The trees wore reds from crimson to cherry, golds from saffron to mustard, oranges from apricot to pumpkin; the green of their youth forgotten. Leaves turned to brown, the wind blew, the once colorful petals flutter to the ground; life, at least for this season, has ended. But for them, spring will come, another “life,” another opportunity to be fruitful, productive.

But we only live once.

We have one shot to live “productively.” One opportunity – only this one life – to fulfill Your plan for our lives… and, for me, it’s (at best) late summer. Like the loud ticking of my biological clock a few decades ago, the realization of the hour is sharp, stark and relentless. Chagrined, I remember something You said:

“The righteous will flourish like the date palm [long-lived, upright and useful];
They will grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic and stable].
Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
[Growing in grace] they will still thrive and bear fruit and prosper in old age;
They will flourish and be …vital and fresh [rich in trust and love and contentment];
[They are living memorials] to declare that the Lord is upright and faithful [to His promises];
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (Psalm 92:12-15, Amplified Bible)

Father, I choose to believe that I will “flourish,” that I will “still thrive and bear fruit and prosper in old age.” I choose to trust You.