I Planted A Tree

"Focus on the unity. See the beauty of the work He's doing."

I PLANTED a tree, and it grew from a seed, to a stem and a trunk with branches. The branches grew leaves. Creatures moved into it, birds, squirrels, and the like. There were also insects and other plant life there. The tree provided for them. In some sense, it sustained them. They used it differently, saw it through their own eyes, yet the tree was just one tree, one root system, drinking the light of the sun and the rain that fell.

The Holy Spirit is the Sustainer of all things. He knows all things. He powers all things. There is nothing that does not depend on Him. Even beings that despise Him only exist because He allows them to. He is a He, not a thing, not a dove, nor a lightning bolt, nor shimmering light. He isn’t a tree, though that was my analogy. He is the Third Person of the Godhead, though in truth, they are all Number One, Number One, and Number One. You really can’t mix them around. Jesus did say the Father was greater than He (John 14:28). But the Spirit made Jesus the Anointed One. The Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Father, made Jesus the Christ.

We can say the Spirit is Christ, and the Father is Christ, as much as Jesus is Christ.

My point is, they are in perfect unity, none less than the other. None less wise, None less kind, None less the SO LOVE of God that invites whosoever to be saved. John 3:16.

Why did the Father send Jesus? So that all we need would be supplied. But we are like that tree’s ecosystem. There are many of us, with different upbringings, different talents, different struggles. God – the Three of Them – wants us to never struggle but to rely on Him for our needs to the point we don’t much have to consider them. He’s that big, that generous, that good. Instead, we tend to make it all a fight. Faith is a fight – to believe, to act. Love is a fight. We have to bite our tongue continually to stop arguing. We’re fighting the devil, although he’s de-feeted. We’re fighting the works of the devil, although they are destroyed. We’re fighting devils and doctrines and any other item we can build and swing our sword at.

When it comes to anything God does, there is peace and unity. He knows how to do things so that they will work. This is not a point for us to adopt a “we shall see” mentality, as if God may or may not help. That is, in fact, never going to come out of my mouth. It is that what God does and how He does it is not random, not “hit or miss”, nor a deep mystery. What He does is for our best and in the way that works best. This is my focus. One branch may need pruning, another may need fertilizer, a third needs a little bug spray. This crook in the trunk makes for an excellent bird’s nest, but that side is where you’ll find fruit.

The world is a complicated place, a whirlwind of parts and pieces that make my head hurt. The church is, in many ways to me, the same. I trust my Friend, the Holy Spirit, with all of it, knowing that His way will tie it all together, and be correctly done, and for the best of everyone. Whether He is waiting on me to lean in and trust Him, to ask for more patience, or whether He just does something because He can. It’s okay to seek Him for the “just does something.” It’s okay to learn how to ask. And I will pray for you, using my relationship with Him, how close we are, and He will hear me and help you. Many times, help you to see Him better so that you will also ask. He’s not dividing gifts nor passing them out separately as some have said. He’s asking us to KNOW HIM and do whatever we hear Him say.

Focus on the unity, on being the tree, providing shade, and on the rainfall and the sunshine, and on the seeds which fell last spring and began to take root. See the beauty of the work He’s doing. Let go of the need for competition among us, not seeing the distance between us anymore, but instead, that there is a vast landscape of good soil there to grow more of us.

“While there is a variety of gifts, there is only one Spirit. And though there are many ways to help people, there is only one Lord. While there are many methods to bring God’s healing truth to people, it is the same God who orchestrates his team and whose power works to heal the heart from sin. So, the Holy Spirit works in each person to bring out the abilities and gifts best suited for that individual to use for the common good of all.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Remedy)

Image by Eynoxart from Pixabay


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com