 As instructed, I watered my mom’s indoor tree. It’s a tree so I gave it a half gallon of water only to find at least 2 quarts :0) of it in a puddle under the planter. What an ungrateful plant! I went to all the trouble of giving it a drink – and it spilled it all over the floor! This tree lives in the desert – where water is life and it is even scarcer than shade. But this plant doesn’t even know it is in the desert because it sits in a climate controlled suite with multiple sunny windows. And as I cleaned up all that water, I realized how often I am like this with God. I assume His blessings will always be there. I waste His gifts because I take them for granted. It is only when they are taken away that I realize what I had. That shouldn’t be. I need to be alert to God’s many blessings all around me. Only once I recognize God’s gifts can I be grateful for them and use them as a wise steward. And not be like my foolish, spoiled, ungrateful tree. As instructed, I watered my mom’s indoor tree. It’s a tree so I gave it a half gallon of water only to find at least 2 quarts :0) of it in a puddle under the planter. What an ungrateful plant! I went to all the trouble of giving it a drink – and it spilled it all over the floor!
This tree lives in the desert – where water is life and it is even scarcer than shade. But this plant doesn’t even know it is in the desert because it sits in a climate controlled suite with multiple sunny windows. And as I cleaned up all that water, I realized how often I am like this with God. I assume His blessings will always be there. I waste His gifts because I take them for granted. It is only when they are taken away that I realize what I had. That shouldn’t be. I need to be alert to God’s many blessings all around me. Only once I recognize God’s gifts can I be grateful for them and use them as a wise steward. And not be like my foolish, spoiled, ungrateful tree.  The S.S. Aryfield is an abandoned ship that is rusting away in an Australian bay. Ships all around her sank as their hulls thinned and cracked. But the S.S. Aryfield isn’t like the other ships. After it was decommissioned, mangrove trees sprouted in her stern. Today there is a dense “floating forest” which obscures everything except her bow.
And the Aryfield hasn’t sunk. Its hull is speckled with holes, yet still it “floats”. But I don’t think it floats as much as it is upheld by those mangrove trees. Those tree roots have punctured the hull and sunk down into the ground in that shallow bay. The branches have split the weakened metal in their quest for the sunlight. The Aryfield cannot sink because she is supported by the forest -- that she once supported. When those trees first started to grow, the ship must have felt the burden – extra weight, so much pressure, the painful, slow growth of the roots and the new branches. But those same burdens now hold up the Aryfield. It is so much like our lives. Trials come, and it is natural to resent them. But often what we learn and gain through those struggles sustain us later on. God uses hard things to develop inner strength that will keep us from sinking in the future – if we are willing to bear the burden, just like the S.S. Aryfield.  The dentist is not my favorite pastime but I found myself there anyway this week. I was getting my teeth cleaned, watching (on the ceiling TV…crazy) a primal, Polynesian tribal ritual, and listening to country music over the intercom.
It was quite the contrast – I was surrounded by modern contrivances, hearing music from 100 years ago, and witnessing a dance from 1000 years ago. It was very odd, disconnected and incongruous. Just like the way many people live their lives. They say they believe something in one context while acting contrary to it in another. And both their beliefs and their actions are at odds with reality – like hearing country music as the soundtrack of tribal customs from Micronesia while having someone work on your teeth. But as Christians we have accepted our place as part of God’s beautiful, harmonious world. As the One Who knows all and can do all, God is the only One Who fully grasps reality. He calls us to believe what is true, act on these beliefs, and live a life that is completely consistent with reality. That is the enviable life. It is the life where, what I believe matches how I act and both are in line with reality. If you belong to Jesus, you have the enviably life. Dear Faith,
I’d really like to get to know you better. I am sorry that I have been pushing you to the back of my life and giving precedence to all my pressures and stresses (and, yes, I admit it, worries). It’s not that I didn’t think Jesus was important. It is that I didn’t think Jesus was the most important and, as I have been learning lately, He is (Matthew 6:33). If life is a ship, obeying Jesus is the rudder and the helm that directs me through life – no matter how chaotic. God’s word is the sails that pull me in the right direction. His presence is the anchor that keeps me grounded (Hebrews 6:19). And, right now, all that seems very important right with the anxiety, uncertainty, and senselessness in my life. Can you help me put Jesus first? I want to treat Him the way He deserves, but I am so practiced at putting other things first. I am not even sure what it looks like to put Christ first. Maybe it starts with thinking about you, Faith, the right way? Can you help me do that? I want to but I don’t really know how. All I know is, the just shall by faith. Maybe you can explain that to me a bit more. Until next time, Me Ps. Yes, Lord, this letter is really to You. |
The AuthorCome with me as we grow in fellowship with each other and our Savior to whom belongs the Amazing Escape from sin and death and the Amazing Journey into glorious life. Archives
May 2023
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