serendipity
I just finished reading Richard Power’s novel The Overstory a powerful book about how we are all so intricately connected through nature; trees in particular. Leaves flutter but the solid trunks are firmly planted. Some of the branches are broken; some sprouting new life, healthy and vibrant as they sway in the shifting winds. That’s what we are like.
When we are standing firm in our faith and rooted to the KIng, we dig deep down into the dust. That’s where we came from. We are like leaves changing with the autumn colors in the seasons of our lives as God works through us. Our scars, like carvings and lines in the bark are the outer edges exposed. Each is a unique pattern but we stand together. Knots on the outside, but inside a solid core; the rings of history as we connect with others around us - part of the forest. Part of the family of God.
From the seeds, to the roots, the growth and to the crown; there are so many parallels to the trees and stories interwoven in our histories.
The story of the underdog, the over achiever; the sob story, the success story but one story that never gets old or changes is the story of salvation - the soul story. The one about me as a sinner, someone who doesn’t get it all right; who has much to learn but I am loved by a God who chose me. And not because I deserve it, but because he loves me so much that he came into the world as a man to live and die on a cross so that I don’t have to suffer forever if I choose Him as my Savior. I confess that He alone controls my life because I have been born physically and now spiritually. It’s as simple as ABC.
Accept my humanness - I am a sinner. Believe that Jesus died - so that I can live, then Confess that He is Lord of my life. Each of us has his or her story, but sometimes we can’t see God’s story because we just chew on the thoughts and word and never grow. We have to swallow them and digest them to receive the Truth. It’s like finding something good without looking for it: Serendipity. You just have to receive it. That my friends is simply grace.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2: 12-13