The Beauty of Fall: Leaves

Fall time will soon be over, and I'm just now finding the opportunity to finish writing about what God has taught me through my favorite season of the year! Isaiah 6:3 reminds us that the whole earth is full of God's glory. Well, leaves are no exception.
A couple of years ago, I was studying plants with the kids during homeschooling. At the time, we were specifically studying leaves. I learned something that has forever changed the way I experience fall time. I simply learned why leaves change colors. It turns out, all of those beautiful, vibrant colors were present within the leaves all along! They just couldn't be seen. During the fall months, the leaves begin to die-to starve to death, really. The leaf is emptied of its chlorophyll, causing the green coloring to fade. As this happens, the other colors that were previously hidden, are now brilliantly revealed.
What God showed me that day was the secret to true beauty: death to self. Only when I die to self can the beauty of Jesus Christ be brilliantly revealed in me. Colossians 3:3 says, "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." The beauty of the leaf is found in the process of dying, the end result of which is falling to the foot of the tree. This is a picture of the crucified living God has called me to, and it will require me to daily starve my flesh. Oh, what a high calling - to fall at His feet and truly abide at the foot of the cross. I'm to be hidden in Him, but His Presence within me was never meant to be hidden.
I pray that whether or not I'm ever beautiful by the standards of this world or in the eyes of any man on the face of this earth, that I will be beautiful to my Bridegroom Who died for me. It is also the desire of my heart, that when others look at my life, they would be able to catch at least a glimpse of His radiant, breath-taking beauty.
God uses the fall season to speak to me about crucified living. The truth is, however, we need not wait for a certain season or time of year to humble ourselves. Any time we spend at the foot of the cross is a beautiful season.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Ecclesiates 3:11). It's time to be beautiful!