I love watching the leaves change, then drop gently to the ground. I enjoy hearing the rhythmic crunch as I power walk through them.

But the bare trees make me a bit sad. They seem so…bare. Lonely. Cold. Less than what they can be.

As I watched a few leaves fall from a tree in my backyard recently, I thought, “It’s not time! Why are leaves prematurely falling? It’s not even windy!” But I soon realized the leaves were not falling prematurely. They were falling when it was time for them to fall. The tree let go because it was time. Soon, all the leaves will be off the tree. It will release all of them. But it’s not less than it can be. It is still a tree. It is still alive. The very thing I don’t like is a sign of a healthy tree.

If the tree couldn’t let go of the leaves, it wouldn’t be long before the snow and ice would come. It would encase the clinging leaves, causing a weight too heavy for the thinner branches to bear. They would crack and break under the weight.

We have to let go in order to grow. It’s who we are. You might feel as if you can’t bear the weight of what’s going on in your life right now, but maybe it’s because you were never intended to…maybe you need to let go of something to prepare for the weight ahead. You might feel as if you’re not as beautiful as you once were, but there is beauty in fulfilling your purpose, doing what you were created to do, including transformation. You might feel vulnerable, and you might be vulnerable, but trying to stay in a season longer than God intends will make you even more vulnerable.

Ready or not, it’s time to let go.

Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? (Isaiah 43:18-19)