Day 2869 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

2 Peter 3:18 NIV

A couple of weeks ago I was riding down the road and for some reason unbeknownst to me, I noticed the trees drifting past as we continued on our way. Looking up at their dark branches contrasting against the brightness of the sun-lit sky behind, I was suddenly stuck by this realization that every branch, every limb, every single stem and tiny offshoot was pointed upward toward the source of the light that gives the tree its life.

It's absolutely beautiful the ways in which God speaks to us when our time is otherwise unfilled and our minds too are unencumbered by life's many worries for a moment or two. He can send His Word into our hearts during a simply seemingly ordinary, completely mundane trek to get some lunch. But only if we remain vigilant, vested, and ever willing to listen. A task that sadly remains quite difficult when caught in the hustle of a hurried life.

Those dark little branches reminded me of how precious life is and how we should be fighting for every ounce of light and life that we can possibly reach for. Like those trees, we too need light to give us life. Not in their photosynthesis regard, but in terms of the light of the Son of God who came into this darkened placed to awaken us from our peaceful slumber within the prisons of sin that our penchant for selfishness had constructed.

You see, trees only grow when they receive enough sunlight and rain and nutrients from the soil to make possible their strength needed to shoot for the sky above. Three simple things and just the right combination of them results in the beauty of a towering tree topped with numerous branches covered in countless leaves all dancing in the wind. If God can use such a simple combination of light, water, and soil to create such a masterpiece, why do we often doubt what He can do in us and with us?

Could it simply be that our minds are too laden down with life’s worries and society’s offerings to grasp the simplicity of what a life of faith is meant to be, can be, should be? Are we possibly just so consumed in life as we know it that we’ve forgotten the beautiful creation that of life as He designed it? Have we unknowingly, unwittingly, completely willingly planted roots in soil never meant to be our home?

This has been on my mind heavily in the weeks since I found myself struck by the trees flying by outside the car window. They live, they flourish, they grow only when they reach for the life provided by the sun. Perhaps we too should reach with everything we have toward the life provided by the Son. Perhaps we should refuse to allow our doubts or fears to complicate what God has set in perfect motion. Perhaps we should focus on the simplicity of the basic necessities of life as God designed it.

As we discussed yesterday, we don't need as much as we want. And sadly, our minds are often so overwhelmed by our wants that we lose sight of the gratitude we should always have for His constant provision. He has never left us, never forsaken us, in truth He came to chase us down as we were running with the wrong crowd in the wrong race in the wrong direction. His capacity for love and the willingness to provide said loves encompasses speaks to the endless depth of His mercy and grace.

I've hesitated to share this post and the lesson I learned from those tender shoots springing upward off those limbs as I felt it was truly one that many needed. Not sure why, at least until today, but I think it needed to be reserved for this final day and these final hours of this fading year and the coming of a new set of days and weeks and months as we step into a new year tomorrow.

My prayer as we leave the past behind and step either expectantly or reluctantly, hopefully or wearily, joyfully or fearfully into a new year is that we slow down. Calm down. Use this moment to reassess the stumbling blocks over which we've continued falling and seek ways to learn the lessons those foolish failings have always held that we've tended to remain too busy to acknowledge.

The fact is that God is speaking in ways we don't allow ourselves to hear as our ears remain tuned to the whispers and lies told by a lost generation trying to find hope in all that's hopeless. Our minds remain unable to comprehend His simplicity and the power within as we instead remain focused on the difficulty that we're spawning in our lives. Our hearts risk continuing to rage through life looking for meaning and purpose and value in things that everyone else says are meaningful and purposeful and valuable.

And sadly, as a result of the above, our souls are at risk of remaining too busy, too distracted, too compromised to realize the simplicity that our faith was always meant to be. Life isn't contained in an abundance of possessions. It's not deepened through grand experiences or the fulfillment of delightful dreams. It's not better if we're richer or more famous or more loved by those around us.

In truth, life exists in the basic necessities of light, water, and a bit of soil in which to sink our roots.

Much like those trees, just imagine to what heights we could grow if we'd just learn to appreciate the endless opportunity for growth afforded by our faith. Just imagine the joy we could find dancing upon the winds of life if we could just allow ourselves the time to enjoy the fact that God wanted us to be alive, to be saved, to be His. Just imagine how full our lives could be if we stopped seeking to fill them with everything that's hollow and instead sought to fill our ears and eyes and hearts and minds with His Word and His will.

Maybe I'm off my rocker, a theory as of yet mostly untested and therefore completely plausible, but think it over for yourselves. God sent Christ to bring us life through exposing us to the light of His truth. He sends His rains and storms and calamities and catastrophes over our horizons to strengthen us, to water us, to teach us to stand fast and rely on His design which He intended to withstand whatever this world may throw our way. And He offers us a promise of eternal soil in which to sink our roots so that we don't have to feel the need to find a place to belong in this world that's passing away.

So yeah, maybe I'm a bit goofy for looking at the trees and finding hope, finding encouragement, finding a reminder of what's truly important in life, for life. But seeing as how things are going and likely to continue going down here, a little bit goofy maybe isn't such a bad thing. After all, we should all strive to be different from a world so lost it can't realize it. We should be desperate to lose every worldly chain that has hindered our growth. We should jump at the chance to cast off every grain of this temporary sand and set our sights on the promise of something inconceivably better.

Friends, just remember that what you plant will in fact grow. Be it doubt that brings fear and breeds confusion, or anger that instills distrust and renders faith an impossibility, or hope that leans on truth and seeks joy in the promise of a home we don't deserve, make sure that what you're planting or allowing to be planted in your heart and in your life will result in the crop you wish to harvest.

Truth be told, we each get to choose how our lives grow. It can be in this earthly soil watered by worldly desires that leads to worldly success and comfort and acceptance and even peace. But if we hold to the promises of Scripture then we should know what worldly peace leads toward. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. So is this where you want to build your life, plant your roots, make your stand? Or should we learn to see our life in this place as a simple opportunity to stand tall, to reach for the sky, and to point others to the light above?

This world and our lives in it are filled with nearly endless choices and therefore innumerable possibilities and outcomes yet untold. But as we venture further into the days ahead, perhaps simplicity is the best way to go. After all, as we've been discussing at length of late, this narrow road toward life demands our complete focus and full devotion to keep us pointed in the right direction. So maybe all this stuff that we've long prioritized is nothing but a collection of hassles only hindering our progress in the Son.

Friends, there will be challenges and fears and worries and concerns as we continue onward into the rest of our stay. There will be storms and rain and cold and darkness that makes it all far more uneasy and uncomfortable than we'd prefer. But through it all, every single unknown and inconvenient, the light of Christ will be there beckoning us to follow Him no matter what we face. But that's a choice, a daily choice in fact, that each must make alone. And yes, life has a tendency to make it a rather difficult choice at times.

But when we remember what life is, why life is, and to where we hope our lives are heading, we should be able to find every reason needed to keep sending our leaves toward the heavens in search of the light that gives us life and makes possible our growth in a faith that has and can and will always continue to be able to see us through whatever comes our way.

Many things in this place, in our very own minds, will continue to offer us distractions that attempt to convince us that more is truly merrier. But if we can manage to keep our eyes focused upon Jesus and the promises and lessons and truths and hope He embodies, then just maybe we can cut through the nonsensical excess of a life spent in the ways of this world and keep our gaze fixed on the light that calls us home.

It won’t be easy at times as things are sure to unfold and unravel in ways that make no sense. But it doesn’t have to be easy to be simple. And in truth, life is far simpler than our desires and delusions tend to make it seem. The simple fact of life will always remain in that all we need for our lives to grow and flourish is a bit of soil, an appreciation for the rain, and a relentless striving to reach for more of the Son.

So may we spend our remaining days reaching toward His light and encouraging those around us to do the same. May we keep our eyes fixed above as that’s where we’re trying to go. May we keep life simple and enjoy the simplicity found in God’s endless mercy. May we point others toward the hope we’ve found in the promise of an eternal home. May we live to seek His glory and render His praise rather than seeking our own, as we are not the givers of life but only the livers of life.

And may we keep reaching for the Son, because in Him and Him alone exists life and every good hope that we've always tried and always failed to find anywhere else.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold