The beauty of nature
We have to remember to take a moment… I found myself headed into a moment earlier today while on my lunch break. Some days just feel overwhelming and heavy, at times I feel like I’m suffocating in my stuff. I reclined in my seat and stared out the window to get my mind to a place of peace and gratitude “You Are Good” by Todd Dulaney was playing. This tree caught my attention, and it was nothing out of the ordinary as I see it every day. Something was different, I was studying it from top to bottom, how the wind blew between the branches and how tall it stood. By this point “Nothing Like Your Presence” by Williams McDowell had transitioned on such a beautiful song. Sidenote: One thing I have been actively working on is acknowledging a moment, redirecting and grounding myself again. What I heard in this moment was to be like the tree, and y’all know there’s a scripture for that…
Jeremiah 17:8 “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes: but it’s leaf will be green and will not be anxious in the year of drought, now will cease from yielding fruit.”
I was so fascinated by this tree because in this season as the wind was blowing between the branches, it didn’t budge, even as it’s naked and bare, it still stands tall. It’s not capable of shrinking into itself, it only knows to stand firm and confident; admirable. The root system is what keeps it grounded in every season, even those where it seems like it isn’t bearing any fruit. In its most vulnerable state, the tree knows what it’s like to be covered; it knows what it’s like to have and to not have, its contentment in every season teaches us something. It taught me something! Praise God even when we can’t see it! When we are in those full-bloom seasons, we are so confident in ourselves, in God, and in how we show up, because we can see the evidence of what we have to offer, and others can too. In the other seasons that we may refer to as drought seasons, the uncomfortable, the stripping of our fleshy selves, we feel so exposed and want to hide away and shrink back. Sometimes we don’t even want to show up or know how to show up due to fear and insecurity. Funny enough, in seasons like this we are stripped of things that God wants to sometimes put on display and see if we are going to allow him to see all of who we are.
Disclaimer: God does not always have you in a season of isolation, it’s you!
Social media gets way too much clout.
This is getting good to me, and I am trying to stay on topic here, My God! But this very vulnerability of the tree is why I adore worship in the presence of God!
When God can see us and use us in the state it makes a world of difference, for Him (in our trusting), for Us (in our security and assurance), and for others (in our testimony). When I tell y’all I’m about to run…. I AM! When we are rooted in God, and I mean a firm foundation there will be nothing that can uproot us. There will be many storms that come, much rain, and the seasons will constantly change but if we are sure of who we are in Christ and know that we can stand the test of time, we will be just fine. Your season to bloom is right around the corner, there is preparation for that. I was doing some reading about trees, and I learned in the winter seasons, as we don’t get a lot of sunlight, neither do the trees, they have to get nutrients somehow. It was talking about the way trees draw their nutrients from the inward part of themselves, a process called conservation. For us that would look like preservation of oneself in a season like this as we would be drawing our strength, and light from God and His word, the lot of Him that we are carrying within. We don’t want to wither away because of how things look, if we carry the spirit of God then we have what we need to carry us over.
Trees to me have this superpower that I have always wanted, they bring big energy to any space they are in. They have structure and foundation to them like no other Even when they are the only thing standing and everything else around has fallen. Since, I am stuck on the worship piece, I will say that it will always remain to be my favorite space to be in because it is there that I can just be my full self with God. When I enter that space, I know I can release it all, I don’t feel like I have to hide anything, and I don’t want to run away I want to stay in that place forever. Have you ever been so weighted by the presence of God that you can’t even lift your head?! That’s the transparency God wants from us at all times, if we are holding nothing back from Him, then there is no part of our story that he won’t use for His glory. He wants it all! Yes, he knows all but we should want to be in a place with Him that we want to tell Him all anyway, to reassure Him of our trust and ability to fully communicate - Use Your Mouth! He wants to hear your voice, no matter what. The same way we want to hear Him, He is always speaking to us.
Stand firm in God even when you feel like you want to fold, be like a tree planted by the water.
For reference read Psalms 1:3