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A Message of Comfort as the Trees Change

A Message of Comfort as the Trees Change

Last updated on: November 1, 2026 at 1:47 pm by Beverly R. Green

A Message of Comfort as the Trees Change 2026-11-01T13:47:23-05:00 Beverly R. Green

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trees image by jklugiewicz@pixabay

A Message of Comfort as the Trees Change

If you want to learn about God, if you really want to know Him, watch His creation. This time of year we traditionally watch the trees.

Two weeks ago, Marty and I took a short trip, and one of the great pleasures of the trip was the colors of the leaves in the mountains. It was interesting to notice how there was more fall color in the trees when we returned then when we went through the first time, and how we saw more fall color in the higher elevations than in the valleys.

Fall: a season of transition and shedding the old things

As daylight fades, trees track the lengthening nights (photoperiod) to sense the coming cold. The tree stops making chlorophyll, so the green fades to reveal hidden yellow, orange, and red pigments (xanthophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins). Those colors were there all along, we just couldn’t see them because there was more green than yellow, orange, or gold. In addition, a layer of cork forms at the leaf stem to cleanly drop the leaves, preventing moisture loss and damage from winter ice.

Winter: a season of dormancy and survival

Trees enter a resting state with a slowed metabolism, relying on stored starches and sugars in their roots. Sap thickens and cells produce natural antifreeze, proteins, or extra sugars to keep the living cells from freezing solid. Above the ground, roots may continue slow growth on milder winter days, whenever the soil isn’t frozen. Winter can be a difficult time, but then comes …

Spring: a season of awakening and budding

Warmer temperatures and longer days signal the tree to move stored energy, water, and nutrients from its roots up into the branches. Tiny green leaves appear, followed by buds that swell and open. Flowers appear to attract pollinators. Roots expand underground to absorb fresh spring rain and soil nutrients.

In Summer, we have peak production

Days are long and sun is abundant. Chlorophyll production is maximized. Leaves reach full size. The tree converts sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into sugars, fueling rapid growth in branches, trunks, and roots. Trees use a process called transpiration, releasing water vapor through their leaves to stay cool in the heat.

As idyllic as summertime may seem, the cycle continues, and eventually fall and the decline of growth returns. The seasons change. They were not created to remain the same.

Change Happens

I missed fall when I lived in the South. Every year it seemed that summer hung on until it eventually gave up and became winter.

My daughter lived in Florida for a while. That seems like the place everyone wants to go, but after a few months, she said she was “done with it.” Every day, every week, looked the same.

As uncomfortable as it may be, just like the weather, the human spirit is wired for change. God has not created us to become stagnant.

Genesis 8:22 says, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.” God designed His creation for change. He designed humans for continual spiritual transformation and personal growth. Through Scripture, prayer, and life’s seasons, He shapes us gradually—from glory to glory—transforming our character to reflect Christ and mature in faith.

There is a Biblical foundation of change.

Christ makes believers new from the inside out.

Second Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Spiritual maturity happens step-by-step over a lifetime.

Romans 12:2 – “And do not be conformed [metamorphosed–changed gradually like a caterpillar to a butterfly] to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

2 Corinthians 3:18–”But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed [metamorphosed, again] into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

We need the Word of God for growth.

Matthew 4:4 says**,** “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God’s Spirit works inside you to produce fruit and character. Hard seasons test your heart and build deep perseverance.

A Time for Everything

Like the trees, God has times of growth, times of fruitfulness, and times of rest planned for every one of us. Like the trees, we do not get to choose those times for ourselves. God is in control. Growth happens, fruit develops, and rest comes as He ordains. Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 words it perfectly.

“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

“What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”

The traditional third verse of the old hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” says:

“Summer and winter and springtime and harvest

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love”

The other side of the coin is this: As much as this world may change, and as much as we may change, our heavenly Father does not.

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6) and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Heavenly Father, thank You that to every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. Help us never to take our seasons of life for granted and to trust Your sovereign hand through times of weeping and laughing, breaking and building, mourning and dancing, and to know that it is Your intent and purpose to make all things beautiful in Your time. Help us to be alert, and not to miss the blessings. Amen.

God bless you as your seasons change.

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