in Spite of Challenges

Now that it's officially Spring, I have noticed the blooming trees sporadically everywhere I go. I was driving along recently and noticed how these are rarely, if ever, in clusters. More often than not, they grow up in brush and weeds and bring beauty to dull areas. The Lord brought it to my attention that these trees are symbolic of us as Christians. We tend to believe we must have these ideal circumstances in order to be fruitfull, or more often, to feel good about ourselves. But in Christ, we have the ability to blossom in spite of our circumstances or surroundings. And through Christ, we can decide to surrender our own message to one much greater. 

I need to start out by saying that I had to come to a place of identifying it in myself before I could discern it in others. So many times over the course of my life, I find myself focusing on my limitations, my environment, enemy or circumstances. Instead of having faith in what God can do, I have let my apparent obstacles win my thoughts. I often struggled with the Lord over these things, thinking if only things were different I could 1. Feel better about myself and 2. Be further along in my growth. But in all honesty, when I examine my heart I realize that it was mostly about me.

Before I go any further, I need to say it is increasingly obvious that I do not struggle alone. Our struggles, if we're honest, are things others can identify with. I think it's key that we know that. I believe God has a purpose of setting others free as He calls me ro share mine. 

My point in this entry is this: Everyone of us can find things in our lives that aren't so perfect, no matter how good we've had it. Isn't it just like us ro think that we need to have certain conditions in life to fluorish, as if God can only work with certain situations? We tend to think, "If I just didn't have this one thing, I could feel better about me." And in doing so, we forget that our focus should be on what brings Him the most glory, not ourselves. 

Every beautiful thing around us is a miracle by God's supernatural powerr and I bet you are one of them. Look closely. Jesus, our Teacher and our King, spent His time on Earth healing the sick and broken, not making religious people more religious. He didn't call us to be a bunch of perfectionists, but to trust Him to bring good from our circumstances because He Is in control. He has been working wonders in this broken world long before, and even after the fall. He has proven to me time and time again that He is the only one who can fix a mess like me. 

Be encouraged. He is at work in you!