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Falling Autumn leaves

There is a big tree outside our house. It might be part of the maple family, but it certainly is the most noticeable feature of our exterior. ‘Park outside the big tree’, we often say when inviting friends around.

It provides cooling shade in summer and makes our house much colder in winter. It is one way I watch the seasons change – although our tree seems to change slowly for some reason. The half facing the sunrise is the first to feel the effects of the season change, with the sunset side changing slower. Around the time of autumn, half of the leaves have fallen, and the other half is going through the green-orange-brown colour change and hanging on for dear life! Did I mention that it is a BIG tree! Well, it is, and a big tree means a lot of leaves. When I say a lot, I do mean a lot! I guess that there might be ten tons of leaves—this is, of course, a gross exaggeration, but it feels like that when you are the one responsible for picking them up!

The other day I was filling up another green garden refuse bag with crunchy, brown leaves, and I was honestly feeling quite frustrated. My frustration was selfish because I was the one that had to deal with all of these ‘dirty’ leaves, and I was suddenly reminded of my neighbour. My neighbour loves the leaves. My neighbour cannot wait for the change of season, for the autumn leaves to fall. My neighbour uses the leaves for mulch. Mulch helps your garden grow well; it keeps the soil moist and keeps the frost away. The rotting leaves help to improve the soil structure while adding nutrients. Mulch is good, and mulch comes from leaves. One man’s ‘dirty’ leaves are another man’s mulch.

This is a great illustration of how we deal with our stuff: the things that God is working out of our lives, the old defaults, and habits, and attitudes. The things that we used to look to that helped us cope, our escapes. We all have that kind of stuff, and we all have leaves that need to fall as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Our journey with Jesus moves us from faith to faith and from glory to glory, and we do ourselves a disservice when we do not call our ‘stuff’ what it is really is, Sin.

When we call it Sin, it becomes easier to deal with. This is because Jesus has defeated the power of Sin by his death and resurrection. The garden of our lives does not have to be littered with leaves; we can trust that Jesus will help us pick them up as we are walking and journeying with Him. That habit, that insecurity, that addiction does not have to define your life. We can live in the freedom of forgiveness when we trust the one who has overcome Sin. He even makes it easy for us. We only need to repent—meaning to ask for forgiveness—and then turn away from our Sin and turn to Jesus. Walking with Him and trusting His work in us.

There is a song lyric by a band called Thrice, “and as long we live, every scar is a bridge to someone’s broken heart”[1]. What we have gone through, what we have faced, what we have overcome, what we are working through, can all help others find victory. Our leaves can be someone else’s mulch! When we find victory, it is not only for us but also so we can journey with others to find their victory in Jesus.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)


[1] For Miles Lyrics by Thrice (streetdirectory.com)

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