Yesterday afternoon I was blessed with a glorious hour laying back in the double hammock with my husband, under one of the huge trees in our backyard watching it sometimes softly and sometime violently shake and wave as an afternoon storm rolled in.
When is the last time you laid back under a tree and just looked up and watched? If it’s been a while or it’s never happened, I highly recommend it. It’s kind of amazing.
And as I laid there, thoughts and concepts from my Bible danced in my brain. If you read the Bible, you’ll see the story of creation in Genesis and Job. You’ll read praises to God through and by His creation in Psalms.
Let the heavens be glad, let the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest shout for joy before the Lord, for He is coming. Psalms 96:11-13
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
The Bible says creation speaks….and yesterday I swear it was singing.
The tree: There are a few bigger branches connected directly to the trunk and then many branches shooting off of those main branches. And then there are smaller branches shooting off of those smaller branches and in some places even smaller branches shooting off of those, and then the leaves are attaches to smallest branches.
And as I watched I noticed something.
Many branches swayed and rocked as the strong winds blew and the storm came in…..but not all of them.
And I felt a gentle whisper…..”I am the vine and you are the branches” John 15:5…..and it felt like God was downloading a picture of the church today into my soul.
Here’s what I noticed……
The further away from the trunk…..the more violent the shaking.
The branches connected directly to the trunk did not budge. The next layer of branches shook some…..and the next layer some more and so on and so on until you got to the most out layers which were violently being shaken and broken off.
Jesus is the trunk. Those who are intentional about directly connecting themselves to Him, when the storm comes, will not be shaken.
Those who are relying on someone else to feed them shake more.
Those who are relying on someone who is being fed from someone else shake even more and on and on.
So the question is……Do you feel shaken?
The world is in the middle of a storm and many people feel shaken to their very core.
But can we have peace in the storm?
YES!
How?
We have to know the one who rules over the storm.
Do you feel like you are being whipped around by cares and worries and things going on in our world? My next question is….what does your spiritual life look like? Are you connecting to the trunk (Jesus) for yourself or are you relying on someone else to connect and tell you what it is like?
I don’t mean to sound harsh. I really don’t! I am talking to myself just as much as anyone else. But here’s what I know, if I am relying on just my pastor or just my Bible study teacher or just my favorite author or just my favorite worship leader to tell me what they learned about Jesus and don’t have time or make time alone with just me and Jesus….. DAILY…….. I am NOT strong, I am NOT a nice person, I am TOTALLY whipped around by the hot mess world in which we live.
YES, community is important!!!! YES, meeting together is important!!!! YES talking it out with friends and family helps. BUT if you are relying solely on meeting with and talking with other people to calm your world, friend, you are going to keep getting whipped around.
We HAVE to individually dig in deep and intentionally strive after knowing Jesus more and more. THAT is the only way to survive the storm.
What does that look like?
Well, what does it look like when you want to know someone? If you are married, what do you do to stay connected to your spouse? If you have a BFF, what do you do to stay connected to your bestie?
You spend time with them. You talk to them. You do things with them. You ask them questions about their day. You tell them about your day. You want to learn what they like and dislike. You learn what makes them happy and what feeds their soul and they want to know the same about you. You rejoice with them on good days and you sit with them and cry with them on the bad ones.
Ok, great. But how do I do this with Jesus?
You talk to Him. It’s called prayer. If I can text my husband about something that has happened, good or bad, then I can tell God about it too, and even better yet….first. If I seek out advice from a friend, then I can seek it out from God too, and even better yet….first.
You learn about Him. I.e. read your Bible. Study it. Ask questions. Dig in like you are mining for precious stones. If you want to know about God, how about reading the book He wrote for you about Himself and how He feels about you.
You spend time with Him. Go for a walk and listen to praise music. Go out into nature and stand amazed at His creation.
Y’all, storms are gonna come. And some are going to be big hitters.
I don’t want to be a twig or leaf or tiny branch way out on the fringe of the tree. I want to be stable and the only way that is going to happen is if I choose to be directly connected to the trunk.
Be a branch connected directly to the trunk!
A Beautiful Mess 