As I meditate on God’s word this morning, I notice the Vitex tree growing outside my office window. I never planted this tree, it came with the house, and has continued to give me wonderful shade in the summer as I work in my office. From the past rains, this tree has just taken off, growing unlike it has all summer. I am caught up in the thought of what this tree is good for other than to give me shade. I think that it is like a lot of us believers, who have a purpose on this earth, and even though what we think our purpose is, God may have different ideas. For instance, I think this tree gives me shade, but it also provides nectar for the hummingbirds when it blossoms. The pollination process is going on all spring as the bees are totally busy within it. How many times, I am cheered on in the morning by a Wren or a Redbird, or a sparrow, watching me work at my desk from its branches. It’s like they have come to encourage me. How often have my chickens sought comfort under the spreading of its branches, from the weather, and from the hawks. Come to think of it, God uses this tree for many more things than I can even imagine. Just its beauty alone, is worth reflecting on. So I’m reading this morning from Colossians: “For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.” Colossians 1:9-14 We often ask the Lord to show us His will, and wonder how He can possibly use us, since in our minds, we don’t possess any skills that could be of benefit to Him. And like our tree we think we have one purpose in life, yet God reveals in His glorious knowledge to those who honestly seek His will, the walk He wants us to walk, and in doing so, will He not use that walk for many more things than even we believe we are doing? He wants us to bear fruit in EVERY good work as we grow in knowledge of Him. Yet how many times do we think we know the work that He has for us, and don’t deviate outside of that box. We often limit God’s perspective with us, because we don’t bother to see things like He sees them. But why can’t we? Why can’t we seek His understanding instead or ours? Why can’t we seek His will without trying to limit His perspective in us, by our own denial that we are even capable of doing anything else. Think of my tree, your tree, and all the uses you can find for it, then remember that you are much more than a tree, useful to the Lord for HIS will not yours. It’s only when we surrender our will to Him that He can then grow us into fruit producers that He desires. Pastor Andy
Barnabas Man 