Small Buds.

I was walking in the countryside enjoying the changing colours of the trees. Red, orange, and gold leaves danced in the sunlight as the cold wind whipped through the branches. I stopped and looked closer at some small branches, and reached out my hand to touch the frail, dying leaves. Some fell into the palm of my hand, and as I peered even closer, I saw small buds, already forming along the branches. They had been forming for awhile, waiting for their time to burst forth, but were hidden by the obsolete leaves about to fall.
God spoke to my heart and said 'you think that your life is over because all you see are dying leaves that were once fresh and young, that once adorned the tree of your life with the beauty of My life. And now they are fading because they are no longer needed and the wind is releasing you of the encumbrance of obsolete things. They have had their season. But hidden away are new buds that have been developing in your life whilst the old leaves were changing colour and dying. But you could not see them because they have developed in secret. They will be seen openly, and become a source of healing to the nations.

'And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations' Rev 22:2