As we picked it out, I got to thinking of everything it took for that tree to make it to my house.
First it had to grow. It's Eight years old if we counted the rings correctly. Eight years of sitting in the forest or in the tree farm, just growing. Not standing out. Not covered in shiny lights. Nobody looking at it, amazed by its beauty and significance. Just growing. Actually being passed over year after year, until it was ready to be chosen.
From there it had to be cut down and moved. Moved to a new place. Probably not under the most gentle of methods taken to a new place where it had to wait. I wonder how many families walked past this tree, looked at it and moved on before selecting another tree. How many times the tree had been rejected before my wife, daughter and I walked up and said "This is the one."
Next it got trimmed. About an inch was cut off from the bottom, so that it could absorb water better, and some of the bottom branches removed to allow it to fit into the stand, the place where I planned to place it.
From there it got wrapped up and taken on another journey, this one to my home. Where it was placed in its stand and given water.
Soon it will be decorated and brightly lit. Inspiring, no doubt, long gazes as we sit in front of it sipping hot chocolate and listening to Christmas Carols (we really do that at my house).
Christmas morning it will be the setting, the backdrop, the centerpiece, as we open our gifts and create Christmas memories.
Quite a journey! But every step was necessary for it to fulfill its destiny. Cut it down too soon and it will never reach the height it needed to be. Don't put it out there and my family never would have found it. Don't trim it and it will dry up all to quickly. Don't take the time to decorate it and it will never shine.
Kind of like us. Sometimes we get so frustrated with where we are, with the lack of progress that we see, with the stage that we are in, that we fail to understand that this is a part of the process. The Scriptures say in Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
All things. He knows the end from the beginning, and HE is in control of all things, so if I can just trust in HIM, then I know that whatever I am going through it is a part of HIS plan and so I don't need to worry. I can be fulfilled and live a sort of "discontented contentment" as I walk through this hour into my future. If things are good then that's GREAT, I can celebrate how good HE has been; if things are less than perfect, than I know that HE is getting me ready for something great and so I can rest in HIM.
Maybe you're shining right now. If so, I rejoice with you. Maybe you are sitting in the forest and growing. Maybe you are in the tent, bursting with ambition and waiting for someone to pick you. Maybe you are getting some things cut out of your life, so you can better fit and succeed in HIS plan. Wherever you are, it's NEVER the worst case scenario, so realize that every stage has a purpose.
Ask David, annointed King, yet for years shepherding sheep, then errand boy then wanted fugitive, every step preparing him for his destiny.
Ask Moses, chosen liberator and leader, raised in the enemies house, then wanted murderer, then shepherd, then rebel, every step bringing him closer to his calling.
Ask Joseph, betrayed by family, sold into slavery, and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit on his way to greatness.
Ask the Christmas tree standing proudly in my living room. It could tell you.
What are you learning from your process?
No comments:
Post a Comment