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By Bob Simpson, BCM/D Assoc. Executive Director, BaptistLIFE Editor
June is a beautiful month in the Mid-Atlantic region. The beauty of spring still remains, although the days are starting to heat up as the summer approaches. The early splendor of spring color (azaleas, Cherry trees, etc.) has now faded into a vibrant green in all the trees.
When I was a child, I was fascinated by the study of how chlorophyll actually makes the leaves of a tree green. Plants can obtain all their energy requirements from the blue and red parts of the light spectrum, however, there is still a large spectral region where very little light is absorbed. This light is in the green region of the spectrum, and since it is reflected, this is the reason plants appear green. Chlorophyll absorbs so strongly that it can mask other less intense colors. Some of these more delicate colors are revealed when the chlorophyll molecules decay in the autumn, and the woodlands turn red, orange, and golden brown.
That’s probably more than you wanted to know. But it does answer the question of why leaves change their color in the fall.
It can be said, then, that their true colors come out. They come out because, at the base of every leaf there is a swelling that occurs. In a sense, this swelling stresses the leaves which produces the color change… perhaps the true colors.
God has seen fit to allow us to go through hard times. But through it He brings out the best in us for others to see and to know that God has been at work in our lives.
My wife Lorraine and I have recently walked through some very hard times. She lost her brother, George, to a sudden heart attack. Even though it is coming up on two months since we lost him, it still hurts a lot. His death at the age of 55 reminded us of how fragile life can be. There are simply no words to explain why it happened. We are just reduced to silence before God’s sovereign purposes.
Grieving is a lot like worship. In worship, we try to get outside of ourselves and concentrate on Him. We recognize that we are needy and fragile and must submit ourselves to His perfect will, even if it makes no human sense.
It’s true…His ways are not our ways and that’s why He is God and we aren’t! Someday He’ll make it plain to us. Right now we just need to let our true colors show as a result of “swelling” that has entered our lives. The end result will be that others will see the beautiful colors of our God reflected through our distress. Are your true colors showing?