Beauty in the End

I like to go back and read over my journal entries sometimes. I just went back and did it recently. As I got to Novembers, I froze. I stumbled upon some powerful words that I needed in the moment I was reading them that I wrote days before. Oddly, I don't even remember writing them. "The Lord truly protected me and there was beauty in the closing. In the end. Sometimes, the most beautiful things about beginnings is the ending." WOW. What a punch in the face. My own words, days later punched me in the face. How often do seasons end and we automatically see beauty? I would venture to guess never, if not never, then surely rarely. Sometimes the most beautiful thing the Lord can do is open a door only to close it eventually. He will open doors for a moment and there are many lessons there. But, sometimes, majority of the time, doors open only to close eventually. Not all seasons last forever. I think this is a perfect post as we are in the middle of fall! Because just like in fall, the leaves turn the most beautiful colors when they are about to fall off. Often times, though the closing of doors may be the most painful, they hold the most beauty.

In the closing doors, we see pain, brokenness, and heartache. But the Lord sees growth, beauty, refining, and strengthening. He knows what He is doing. We all know there's beauty in beginnings. But what if we knew and noticed the beauty in the endings? Beginnings must have an ending. That doesn't mean we only focus on the endings now, it means we live the beginnings and the seasons out, but don't neglect the power and beauty in the ending. I think we can get easily frustrated with endings. Like we expect all things will last forever. But in the midst of frustration, we overlook the beauty. Endings put into perspective where our focus was. Was it on God or on that season that ended? Did we place our all into that thing or did we keep our all in God? He is the Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. Of everything. Let Him be that for you. Yes, new seasons will start, old seasons will end. But make Him the beginning and end of everything in your life, because He is. He created you, He is who You'll see in the end. He is the First and Last. I had that realization a few weeks ago of what Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End would look like in my life. Well, it's understanding and prioritizing Him as the Beginning and end of all things in your life. He has the first and last say. He is in the open door and the closed door. He is in the new season and the end of the season. He's there when the blooming happens, the pruning happens, and the losing happens. Beginning and the end. There isn't only beauty in the beginning, theres beauty in the end too. You might just need to push your grumbling flesh to the side and seek the beauty that's there. God touches new beginnings, but He touches endings too. Whatever He touches is good, because He cannot go against His nature. Yes, endings can be sad, and we are allowed to mourn for a moment. But find those autumn leaves. Find those precious gold moments. Find the beauty in the endings. It's there. Sometimes new seasons aren't about the beginning, they're ultimately about the ending. Whether it ends like a "happily ever after" or if it ends like a cliff hanger and you're still waiting on closure...

There's beauty in the happily ever after and the cliff hangers. There's beauty in every ending. That doesn't mean there's never pain. Endings are painful. Whether they're in the form of a spoken goodbye, an unspoken goodbye, a subtle closing or an aggressive slamming of the door... it ended, it's ending, for a reason. The Lord knows the reason and whatever He does is always good. There's beauty, yes, even here, even in the brutal endings... there's beauty, grace, protection, and life even here.