Lessons from the trees

With fall on it's way many people are out in their gardens and yards doing a bit of work.  Today I was helping my Dad with some work in our back yard.  After I asked to see what I could do to help he directed me to a shovel and said that I could dig up some of the little trees that were growing here and there. 

Sounded simple enough to me so off I went with gloves on ready to pull up the tree.  But as I started to dig a bit I found out that these little trees were very deceiving to the eye.  Just a couple of inches high, thanks to the mowing from the last two years, but as I dug and then tried to pull up the roots I was very surprised!  The roots were huge!  I pull and yanked and tugged, I got the shovel and tried to use it to pry them loose.  Foot by foot these roots were revealed stopping just short of Australia and China. 

As I kept on in my excavation of these pesky roots I thought of how Jesus taught using gardening in many parables.  Back then everyone would have clearly understood what he was driving at because they all worked the land for food.  Than one thought lead to the next and I was reminded of James 1:13-25 which I had been studying the week before. It’s all about hearing someone tell you how to live a Christian life, but staying the same and thinking it was ok.

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when by his own evil desires, is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15

Those words "Sin when it is full grown brings death," has always hit me hard.  I can't even imagine getting the roots in our yard up after 2 more years of growth...it would take a truck and a backhoe to get them out if I waited that long.

So there was my lesson.  We often think that we are choosing to sin in a small way and that it won’t really make a difference.  Then it grows to another “slightly worse sin” that we say isn’t that big of a deal.  One day, maybe after going to church, we feel sort of convicted that we have a problem so we do a quick little prayer, “Sorry God, thanks for forgiving me. Amen”.  We mow over the plants of sin that cropped up in our hearts and vow to live changed lives, thinking that will be enough.  But one day we find ourselves back where we started, little trees all over the place showing us that we need some help.  Something in us knows we’re in over our heads, but to actually TELL someone our dirty struggle, or to find a counselor to help is usually the thing we fight hardest against.  We tell ourselves it really isn't even that bad.  But from my lesson today, things under the surface are often much more severe than what is seen at a glance and the longer we put off confession and seeking help for our struggles the bigger the roots get and the more things will be torn up in the process of getting the secrets out.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1John 1:5-10

 “Therefore confess yours sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” James 5:16;19-20

The Test of Plenty

As I look around I see many people that I love going through hardships which are teaching them to endure.  The testing of our metal is something that each of us will face several times in our lives.  Can we make it through the pressure?  Will we stretch out our hands and cry out to God or hate him instead?  Will we keep on believing in a good God while life feels anything but good, or will we give up and give in? 

I’ve been in this kind of place more times than I can count and managed to hang on because of God's love.  As strange as it sounds I feel I am in a new kind of test…the test of having more than I need.  You might say that this isn’t a test and that I should shut up and enjoy myself while I can.  But that's just it... as much as this time of peace is a gift from God the enjoyment of that gift is the very thing that has threatened to make me apathetic.  There is a temptation to forget God who has helped me through the hard times as I kick back and relax in this times of plenty.

I must admit that it is very easy to work all the time, pile up savings, play, stay entertained and sleep the rest of the time, but I've had to choose to seek God for wisdom and guidance as things are moving along smoothly.

One of my favorite books in the Bible is Deuteronomy because there is so much in it about human nature.  It shows how we can be ungrateful on the heals of being saved, how we can have our bellies filled and still be unsatisfied and how we can see our dreams fulfilled by God and then completely forget all about HIM.  One of my favorite verses from Deuteronomy came to mind today.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Deuteronomy 6:4-12 (NIV)

It can happen, as crazy as it seems, we can forget all about God and how HE is the reason life is worth living.  This is something I am now aware of.  I still need God, I still desire to have him in my heart and thoughts daily.  So it is a choice for me to pray in times when I don't need to cry out for help and replace those prayers with words of thankfulness to God for his goodness to me.  To sing songs of praise, not because I need to be pulled out of the mire of discouragement but rather to celebrate God’s faithfulness to me.  I think I was close to loosing this battle of ease, but maybe God will be able to trust me with his promise land knowing that I won’t loose sight of him because of it.  This is one test I want to pass!!!