Autumn is my favorite time of year! While walking from my home to the Mission one day I felt the joy that comes with the smell of the harvest air, the beauty of the colored leaves, and the crispness of the yellows and reds and browns under my feet. My thoughts turned naturally to God. I am learning ever more completely to be dependent upon and surrendered to Him. It’s a restful place to be. The dilemmas that come to me are not mine to solve. As the trees shed their dying leaves, I daily shed my concerns and perplexities and return them to my Father.

The trees teach me a wonderful lesson. Isaiah 30:15 says, “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength...” The meaning of the word “returning” is retirement or withdrawal. Unless the tree casts off its leaves and becomes dormant for a season it can’t produce the intended crop. Unless I cast my cares and my joys on the Lord and rest in Him, He cannot bring forth fruit in my life.

Resting does not mean doing nothing. It means ceasing from our own works and doing only the works of God. “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” Isaiah 32:17

I pray with the psalmist David, “LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.” Psalm 131:1-2