A Morning Conversation with God

If you asked my best friend, Cecily, what my favorite color was she would tell you orange. She would be totally right. I love the color orange and all things orange related. I love oranges and peaches. I love to eat circus peanuts. I would say that really the only thing I don’t love that is orange is the Tennessee Vols. Not that I don’t love the color of their uniforms but I prefer to yell ROLL TIDE ROLL!!! I despise all starburst except for the orange ones. Orange ghetto juice is my preferred flavor. Even my bathroom is painted a peachy-orange color.
So it should be no suprise that my favorite season is fall. I love everything fall related-going to the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch, hay rides, and corn mazes. There is nothing better than pulling on my favorite pair of jeans with my most comfortable hoodie. I LOVE fall!!

                                                     (Taken on 37 in Martinsville, IN)

The other day while driving I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road as I just wanted to marvel at the changing of the leaves. There is nothing prettier to me than when the leaves become yellow, red, and orange as they prepare to fall from the trees. Leaving them bare to prepare for winter.

I started to wonder what those colors symbolized in the Bible. What were the spiritual meanings? Upon looking them up I found that….
Orange- Fire of God, deliverance, warrior, passionate praise
Gold or Yellow- Glory of God, divine nature, holiness, eternal deity, the Godhead, Purification, majesty, righteousness, divine light, kingliness, trial by fire, mercy, power, His Deity
Yellow and Gold speak of trial and purging.
There were a few words that really stood out to me: Fire of God, deliverance, purification, and purging. That was exactly what God was doing in my life. He was using the Fire of God to purify me.

Isaiah 1:25

I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities
DROSS:

waste matter; refuse

a waste product taken off molten metal during melting

The term “dross” is used to describe waste material which must be removed and processed separately or discarded in a safe place. It may also be dangerous, poisonous, or impure.

As metal is melted, it oxidizes, forming a layer of scum and impurities which float to the surface as the metal heats up. This dross can be skimmed from the metal so that the refined product will be more pure, ensuring a reliable performance when it is cast or worked.
He is allowing me to go through the fire so that the impurities that are inside of me can be removed. He is purging those things out of my life and attitude that are not of Him. He is purifying me so that I can walk in His ways. You see each of these words have a common theme and that is change.
That is what fall represents to me is change. God reminded me that just like the leaves had to fall from the trees to prepare for winter so that He can bring forth new healthy growth in the spring so must all the things that are keeping me from walking intimately with God must fall off of me so that I can bloom into that beautiful new creation.
As I meditated on this God gently whispered to me that those behaviors and beliefs that I have been holding on to are no longer needed in my life. They served a purpose for a time but that time has passed. Just like the leaves are needed in the summer they are not necessary in the winter. Those coping skills that protected me as a child are no longer needed in my life now that I am an adult. It is time for me to let them fall off of me.
When I was a child I used my weight to protect me from my step dad and his advances but today I don’t need that protection. It is time for me to lay that behavior at Jesus’ feet. I no longer need to use food as a protection. Just like I don’t need my anger to be a protective wall around me to keep people at bay. Those things among many others had once served a purpose for me however they no longer do.
Are you holding on to something that needs to fall from you? What is needed for this season that you are in? Are you allowing God to purify and refine you?