You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3, NIV)
Outside my bedroom window is a large shagbark hickory tree. I only recently truly became aware of this tree. One day, I realized it looked like a Walt Disney “tree person.” It has limbs on each side that look like arms – and branches shooting up into the air like hair on the top of its head. This tree, however, is a comforting tree and not a scary one.
As I sit and look at it’s steadfast nature – how solid and immoveable it is – and how patiently it is waiting for springtime, I find myself thinking – I’d like to be like that tree.
As the leaves started to fall off in autumn, it accepted that loss gracefully. Would that I accept my losses as gracefully as my tree. Today, it is covered in ice and snow. Yet does it fret and try to change? No. It accepts the storms of the past few days and stands with a quiet grace.
To some my tree might look dead, but I know the truth. Inside a beautiful life is waiting to get out in the proper season.
My tree brings me peace. My tree is one of the lovely lessons God is giving me, in the winter of my own life. I have endured many losses. My life seems cold and barren right now. And yet I know … I KNOW … that comes the springtime, I will bear fruit again. God will decide the timing of that season. I don’t need to worry or fret. I can stand solidly on God’s promises; I can choose to be immoveable. I can be patient. And when I forget … I can look out the window and see my ever-present reminder. The tree God gave me – planted years and years and years ago – to bring a blessing to me today.
Father God, I pray that you will place in the life of each reader, an ever-present reminder of you and your steadfast love. Amen.