Finding God in the Little Things!

I was thinking about how God always shows himself in the little things, that is, if we look for him there. I remembered a conversation I had with someone about winters in Oklahoma.  The person I was talking to said she hated winters in Oklahoma because everything was dead, the grass was brown, the trees had no leaves, and it just looks so ugly.  I disagreed, instead choosing to find beauty in the bareness of the trees. I love that you can see the branches of the trees in the winter. I love that you can see the sunrise and sunset through the trees; there are no leaves to block your view.

Have you ever thought about what the branches of a tree look like and how different each tree is underneath all those leaves? Each tree, just like you and me, are very different. With all their leaves they kinda look the same, but when you strip them down to the core, it is very apparent that no two trees are exactly the same…. Just like us. Like us, what they have gone through while growing helps to shape the branches underneath. Each person is shaped differently because of their life events. Two people can be raised in the exact same environment, but come out of it very different.  Just as two trees can grow in the same orchard but look very different underneath.  Just because they are different underneath, does not mean that they cannot bear the same fruit.  If they are both apple trees then they will both bear apples, no matter what their branches look like. Our underneath (our lives, our pasts, our environments, & our experiences – good or bad), all look different, but when we grow in Christ, we should all be bearing the same fruit…. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control. (Gal. 5:22)

What we face in life shapes us from the inside out.  Circumstances mold us, events shape us, tragedies come and go, and yet, God asks us to all bear the same fruit -the fruit of the spirit. When we give ourselves to the Lord we are asked to start bearing these fruits. So many times, as Christians, we use the circumstances of our past as an excuse to keep us from bearing the proper fruit. Instead we allow ourselves to bear the wrong fruit (sexual immorality, impurity & debauchery, idolatry & witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like – Gal 5:19). We allow ourselves to still be chained to the past then we don’t start producing the fruit that comes with allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our lives. The events of our lives have shaped us into who we were before Christ, but the Holy Spirit wants to shape us into the new creatures we are in Christ.

I can no longer allow my past to dictate who I am in Christ. I must allow the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to bear the fruit that comes from renewing my mind & following Christ.  Only then will my apple tree look like an apple to tree to those who can’t see my branches underneath. I want the light of the Lord to shine through me, just as the sunset shines through the branches of the trees in winter. When you strip off all the layers and see all my branches, I want you to see one thing…. Jesus.

How about you? Are you allowing your past to dictate the fruit on your tree?

Thank you to Rebecca Good for sharing!