Today the heavy, humid air carries the promise of afternoon thunderstorms. I pull out my bike and get on the road while the skies are still mostly blue.
As I ride, I notice the leaves on certain trees have flipped over. Their high gloss surfaces are bowing toward the ground, revealing their matte undersides. One particular bush shows off the silvery hue on the backside of its leaves. Unless I make the effort to take a closer look, I only see this silver lining when rain is on its way.
I did a little hunting to find out why certain trees are prone to showing the backs of their leaves during stormy weather. Here’s what the Farmer’s Almanac had to say:
Before a cold front arrives with its clouds and rains, the wind is often from the southwest. With the wind in this direction, the plant or tree orients itself to get optimum sunlight, and the leaves are in an unstable position with respect to the wind moving past them. This instability makes the leaves flip over. The unstable leaves then foretell the approach of a cold front which is likely to bring rain.
I try to draw the parallels, find the teaching point God has hidden in the overturned leaves. I like the idea of being oriented to the light; of reaching to maximize our exposure to God. But the idea of being unstable and vulnerable in this position doesn’t seem to work. Shouldn’t we be more stable when we’re reaching for God?
But the more I think about it, the more I believe this is a picture of who we are when we draw near to God. The more we reach toward Him, the more He shows us our own weaknesses and shortcomings. The more He humbles us. It can make us feel a little unstable, shake our confidence.
Which is exactly where we need to be to enjoy the best of God’s blessing. When we are unstable in ourselves, we look to God for our stability. Or, as Paul put it, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10b)
Like the leaves humbly yielding to the passing wind’s force, we find ourselves humbly bowing to God’s power as He moves through our lives. Though it can be a bit unsettling, it’s a good thing! Our weaknesses are really our greatest strengths – one of the many paradoxes in scripture. When we can’t, God can. He longs to prove Himself mighty in our lives. I’m so thankful God reassures us in 2 Corinthians 12:9:
“And He (God) has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
