1 00:00:02,650 --> 00:00:04,210 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:10,789 --> 00:00:14,090 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to have you 3 00:00:14,130 --> 00:00:17,980 Speaker 2: listening with us. Today's topic is about what autumn teaches 4 00:00:18,090 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 2: us about beautiful endings. 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: We'll return with. 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:37,150 Speaker 2: The devotional after a brief message from our sponsors. What 7 00:00:37,270 --> 00:00:41,020 Speaker 2: Autumn Teaches Us About Beautiful Endings Written in Red by 8 00:00:41,060 --> 00:00:45,260 Speaker 2: Hannah Benson For everything there is a season and a 9 00:00:45,340 --> 00:00:52,059 Speaker 2: time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3.1 ESV Autumn 10 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,980 Speaker 2: has always been one of my favorite seasons. Crisp, colorful 11 00:00:56,050 --> 00:01:01,210 Speaker 2: leaves crunching underneath my feet, hot apple cider, pumpkins, corn mazes, 12 00:01:01,290 --> 00:01:04,610 Speaker 2: and the list goes on. Perhaps it also helps that 13 00:01:04,630 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 2: my birthday falls during these autumn months. ensuring that even 14 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,980 Speaker 2: as a child, this was the season I favored most. 15 00:01:12,370 --> 00:01:16,030 Speaker 2: I have such fond memories of growing up, playing dodgeball 16 00:01:16,090 --> 00:01:18,230 Speaker 2: outside with my siblings and dad in the dark and 17 00:01:18,290 --> 00:01:22,449 Speaker 2: watching gorgeous Appalachian mountain sunsets through our kitchen window as 18 00:01:22,490 --> 00:01:24,869 Speaker 2: my family and I ate a cozy supper of soup 19 00:01:24,910 --> 00:01:28,709 Speaker 2: and cornbread. But as we say hello to autumn, we 20 00:01:28,770 --> 00:01:31,910 Speaker 2: inevitably have to say goodbye to the previous season of summer. 21 00:01:33,350 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 2: To long evenings playing outside before dusk, cool dips in 22 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 2: the water, and hiking up mountains in the blazing heat. Well, 23 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,290 Speaker 2: maybe saying goodbye to the humidity isn't such a bad thing. 24 00:01:45,310 --> 00:01:49,510 Speaker 2: And as much as I absolutely love autumn, when I 25 00:01:49,570 --> 00:01:53,230 Speaker 2: first thought about writing this devotional, fear squeezed my heart. 26 00:01:54,110 --> 00:01:56,330 Speaker 2: God usually calls me to write what I've first gone 27 00:01:56,370 --> 00:01:59,330 Speaker 2: through myself. So what this autumn might I have to 28 00:01:59,370 --> 00:02:03,100 Speaker 2: say goodbye to in order to write this article? One 29 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 2: evening before supper, I stood in my bedroom, gazing at 30 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:12,970 Speaker 2: the dreariness outside. God, I whispered, what are you teaching me? 31 00:02:14,530 --> 00:02:17,050 Speaker 2: What beautiful ending do you want me to write about? 32 00:02:19,110 --> 00:02:23,070 Speaker 2: Perhaps something I had to surrender, a closed door, something 33 00:02:23,110 --> 00:02:26,209 Speaker 2: God had taught me, either recently or in years past. 34 00:02:27,490 --> 00:02:29,770 Speaker 2: Then I realized deep down what God. 35 00:02:29,590 --> 00:02:30,350 Speaker 1: Had been teaching me. 36 00:02:31,370 --> 00:02:34,150 Speaker 2: Sometimes we think beautiful endings need to come from losing 37 00:02:34,210 --> 00:02:36,889 Speaker 2: something or someone we care deeply about, or from a 38 00:02:36,930 --> 00:02:39,350 Speaker 2: door that's slammed shut in our face that God will 39 00:02:39,470 --> 00:02:44,290 Speaker 2: use for our good. While God does rewrite tragedies into 40 00:02:44,310 --> 00:02:48,620 Speaker 2: beautiful endings, what if beautiful endings also come from letting go. 41 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:49,519 Speaker 1: Of wearisome things? 42 00:02:50,860 --> 00:02:54,019 Speaker 2: Earlier this year, I was striving, afraid of losing what 43 00:02:54,060 --> 00:02:58,220 Speaker 2: mattered to me, and afraid of truly surrendering. I gripped 44 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:02,780 Speaker 2: my own expectations with an iron fist. I wanted to surrender, 45 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 2: knew I needed to. But I couldn't, no matter how 46 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 2: hard I tried. Then, a couple months ago, God gently 47 00:03:12,060 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 2: told me to release. If only it were that easy. 48 00:03:17,020 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 2: I realized that there was absolutely nothing I could do 49 00:03:21,090 --> 00:03:24,810 Speaker 2: to change what I could see. God changed my heart, 50 00:03:25,350 --> 00:03:30,829 Speaker 2: I whispered. Slowly, bit by bit, God unraveled the expectations 51 00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: I had and allowed me to release what I clung to. 52 00:03:35,740 --> 00:03:39,260 Speaker 2: Surrender isn't something we can accomplish with our own human willpower. 53 00:03:40,020 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 2: It is something the Holy Spirit needs to work in 54 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,820 Speaker 2: our hearts. When we stop striving, God's grace accomplishes within 55 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: us what our flesh cannot. As summer drew to a close, 56 00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 2: so did the expectations I clung to with an iron fist. 57 00:03:55,380 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 2: That's not to say I don't still struggle sometimes. But 58 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,570 Speaker 2: as I reflect on where I was emotionally and spiritually 59 00:04:01,670 --> 00:04:05,250 Speaker 2: earlier this year, I've recognized that things I thought I'd 60 00:04:05,330 --> 00:04:08,150 Speaker 2: lost were not lost when they are surrendered to the 61 00:04:08,210 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 2: Father's hand. Intersecting Faith and Life When this year started, 62 00:04:14,300 --> 00:04:17,580 Speaker 2: if I'm being honest, I looked at my circumstances and thought, 63 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 2: God couldn't possibly change things. Which is wrong, I know. 64 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:26,210 Speaker 2: After all, the impossible is possible with God. Either that 65 00:04:26,350 --> 00:04:31,130 Speaker 2: or I assumed God wouldn't change things. But as the 66 00:04:31,170 --> 00:04:34,849 Speaker 2: months passed and spring turned into summer and summer turned 67 00:04:34,890 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 2: into autumn, God did so many things I once thought impossible, 68 00:04:39,510 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 2: changing my heart before he began to change some of 69 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,540 Speaker 2: my circumstances. Like the trees yield their leaves unto the 70 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 2: earth in order to pave way for spring, so does 71 00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 2: the Lord ask us to yield what we've held onto 72 00:04:52,900 --> 00:04:56,419 Speaker 2: to make way for something new. Sometimes the new is 73 00:04:56,460 --> 00:04:59,940 Speaker 2: completely different. It might mean saying goodbye to the good 74 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:02,289 Speaker 2: things in our lives to make way for something better. 75 00:05:03,430 --> 00:05:05,690 Speaker 2: Sometimes it means letting go of the heavy burdens and 76 00:05:05,770 --> 00:05:08,390 Speaker 2: fears we were never meant to carry in the first place. 77 00:05:08,410 --> 00:05:11,930 Speaker 2: There are times he invites us to trust him and 78 00:05:11,990 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 2: watch him do what we were almost too afraid to 79 00:05:14,390 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 2: hope for. In John 15, Jesus tells his disciples that 80 00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:22,340 Speaker 2: we are the branches. He is the vine and his 81 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,260 Speaker 2: father is the vinedresser. The branches cannot bear fruit on 82 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,060 Speaker 2: their own apart from the vine. Neither can we bear 83 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 2: fruit apart from Jesus. Often the Lord must prune away 84 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 2: not only our sin and self-reliance, but even good things 85 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,300 Speaker 2: we cling to, so we may continually become more like 86 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,310 Speaker 2: him and bear even more fruit. Yes, the pruning can 87 00:05:43,350 --> 00:05:46,550 Speaker 2: be painful. The result is more beautiful than we could 88 00:05:46,710 --> 00:05:50,750 Speaker 2: ever imagine. Every season has its own kind of beauty. 89 00:05:51,529 --> 00:05:54,670 Speaker 2: Whether we lost something or someone dear to us, where 90 00:05:54,710 --> 00:05:57,950 Speaker 2: God stripped away the fears, self-reliance, or sin that held 91 00:05:58,010 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 2: us back from embracing true life. Every ending is made 92 00:06:02,300 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 2: beautiful in His perfect time. Pray with me. Dear Father God, 93 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:10,580 Speaker 2: thank you for pruning the parts of me that do 94 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,820 Speaker 2: not please you so that I can bear fruit pleasing 95 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:18,250 Speaker 2: to you. Please help me to trust you even when 96 00:06:18,270 --> 00:06:22,630 Speaker 2: the pruning is painful or not always pleasant. You are 97 00:06:22,690 --> 00:06:27,070 Speaker 2: a good Father. In Jesus' name, amen. 98 00:06:31,430 --> 00:06:34,390 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what 99 00:06:34,410 --> 00:06:36,510 Speaker 1: you heard today, we want to make sure you know 100 00:06:36,570 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: about our sister podcast, Your Daily Prayer. 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