When mom and dad built their one and only house on 15 acres (they still live in to this day), there was not a stitch of trees or bushes where their house stood. When my sister and I were younger, we would sit on the front porch and play the game cars, watching and guessing to see what kind of car and what color it was that would pass by. My dad had planted these two beautiful oaks in the front, one on the side and one in the back when I was maybe 10. A couple smaller trees here also had naturally sprouted up. Things have changed over the years. More cars go by now. We have computers and Internet and cellphones that take the pictures now. But the most change is in the landscape. It took nearly 40 years for these Oaks to be big and mighty hovering in the sky. As you drive by, a once house plopped in a farm field in its shining glory is now nearly covered up by big beautiful trees, bushes and landscape. Growth.
Sometimes we want so desperately to be this or that or have this or that. We want the career or the money or experiences or travel or spiritual growth. We want to be grown in an instant. We live in a culture of instant gratification, but growth takes time. Sometimes 40 years to sprout up, grow, endure storms and hardships so our roots get stronger. God molds and makes us into who we are today through the ups and downs, peaks and valleys, the triumphs and trials of life. It’s not over night. Growth takes patience and a lot of it. If you feel stuck or down or frustrated where you are today, Don’t fret. Be still. Watch the trees grow. Soon enough they’ll be tall and mature. As will you (maybe not the tall part but mature 😄) and you won’t know where the time went.
Col 2:7
“rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Psalm 1:2-3
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.