I realize the “Strength to Strength” series appears to have abruptly ended.  My apologies if you were regularly visiting and reading.  I actually still have a few thoughts on that subject I wish to share…probably in the weeks ahead.

The abrupt interruption is because life happened…all of a sudden, and way faster than anticipated.

In Exodus, when God is prepping His people for the final round of plagues before they are to be released from Egypt, He spends some moments going into intricate details about the Passover (“Pesach”) and how it is to be celebrated for generations to come.  Throughout all the instructions, one theme comes to the surface repeatedly (in addition to the obvious themes of redemption, atonement, etc.) – that is URGENCY!  The bread is to be cooked without leaven, they are to eat all of the sacrificed lamb, they are to have their bags “packed and ready” as it were.   Because, when God says “Go”, there will be no time for wasting, and no time for “lolly-gagging” (as they say in the hills :)

Charlotte, NC has been home to Tina and I for the last 8-ish years.  We’ve experienced joys and challenges in our time in Charlotte, and through it all it has been home for us.  We fully expected to be in Charlotte for years and years to come.

But then God moved.

It’s a long and circuitous story, so I’ll do my best to condense it down.  Long story short, Tina and I are moving to Nashville, TN, and with literally no time to spare.

While in college, Tina and I had this fools’ hope dream to live in Nashville someday – I would become a session player and she would work in studio production.  Nice dream, I guess, until it runs into the uncompromising wall of reality.  In this case, that reality was God’s providence and calling.  I ended up in seminary and both of us on very different career tracks than anticipated.  But that’s often how God works.  Since those changes, we never, ever expected realistically to be Nashville residents.

In May of this year (2015), we spent a week in Nashville for a conference for Church Instrumental Directors.  We enjoyed the visit, the fellowship, and the city, but again viewed it just as a nice trip.   With one difference…a lingering sense that this place felt kind of like home.  One of those kind of indefinable sensations you get – similar to what we felt the first time we visited Charlotte.  I guess it was one of the seeds God deposited in us for this upcoming upheaval.

Then, late spring and early summer hit with an unexpected showdown between my father in law and skin cancer.  We entered into a season (7-8 weeks) of chemo and radiation, involving multiple trips to Titusville, FL and a great deal of fretting and uncertainty, yet also a very real and latent confidence in the Goodness of God.  Right at midway in that battle, when things were pretty desperate and bleak, Tina and I had the simultaneous conviction that God may be uprooting us from Charlotte.  We felt, practically, maybe it was to move us to Florida to be closer to our parents.  That made a lot of sense, though the prospect of moving back to Florida (no offense to our families and all of our wonderful friends in Florida!) didn’t sit well with either of us.

Enter Gideon.

Those who are familiar with Gideon’s story in the book of Judges know that Gideon was confronted with a very unsettling call of God to help deliver his people from oppression.  To “test” God, and I suppose to verify Gideon, himself, wasn’t crazy he devised a “fleece” faith test.  (you can read all about it here).  So, I devised my own fleece test.  I determined to apply for every applicable IT position in the central FL area for the final 3 weeks of Dad’s radiation.  If ANY of the doors opened, I would enter and trust in the providence of God, that it was His supernatural doing.  If three weeks past and nothing happened – we’d leave it alone.

Two weeks passed, and no responses.  And then on a whim, I entered a new search term in my job criteria on Indeed.com, and of the two positions on the East coast that were listed, one popped up for “Office Support Engineer – Warby Parker”, in where else?   Nashville, TN.

Side Note – Warby Parker (www.warbyparker.com) has been one of my favorite companies for the last year.  Awesome eyeglasses, awesome price, awesome social giveback model, awesome customer experience, awesome, awesome.  When I saw the listing my jaw dropped.  I texted Tina and she said I should apply – just to see.  I did, in a hurry, and honestly not expecting much.

That was a Friday.   And here’s where it gets weird.

The following Wednesday I was driving home from Titusville after spending a few days with Dad as he was getting chemo and radiation.  A little weary and frustrated, somewhere around Savannah, GA, the thought came to mind to just pray out loud my questions and frustrations.  So I did, not caring who saw me or what they thought.  It was a long, rambling prayer to the effect of  “Jesus, please heal Dad.  And Jesus, I don’t know what you have for me and Tina, or where you want us.  So, WHERE do you want us?  Will you please open the door and just make it so obvious.  We’ll go there….Amen.”

Not five minutes later my email notification dinged.  It was the Tech Recruiter from Warby Parker.  “OK…that was weird”  I thought to myself out loud….still being in out loud mode.

The following day we talked on the phone for 20 minutes.  The day after that I talked on the phone with the Technical Services Manager in NYC – this is exactly a week after applying.  The following Tuesday, 3 video conferences with Tech staff in NYC, and the following Friday (2 weeks after applying) – 2 more video conferences with Nashville staff.  This was the “clincher” round of interviews.

That was a Friday – that was also the final day of Dad’s radiation treatments (remember my fleece!).  I can’t make this stuff up.

What follows that Friday has literally been a whirlwind.  A flight to Manhattan to meet the Warby Parker staff (including directors, CTO, and one of the co-CEOs), a job offer, a rushed house sale, a contract (this weekend), a REALLY rushed closing date, and literally no time to think or breathe.  It’s like Pesach/Passover – except we’re not leaving bondage, we’re simply be relocated on God’s playing field.

And an interesting footnote – during all of this, I had thought to myself and had expressed to Tina that I believed the way God would work in this was we would be confronted with a single option (in this case, Warby Parker).  It would be a simple yes or no decision.  God would then confirm that choice (“yes”) by revealing another Florida option that would just THEN become available, after the fact.  In other words, he’d hold all other possibilities at bay.

So, the following Monday after I accepted the offer, I was going about my business and I received a phone call.  It was from the first place in Florida that I had applied, and probably the Florida job that would’ve been the most interesting to me.  They wanted to schedule an interview.  Oh my!   And then, just to show how amazing God’s timing is, the person on the phone asked if I ever received their email to schedule the interview – it was sent on the previous Thursday (when I was flying to Manhattan to receive the job offer).

I never received that email.

It was simply like God made that email disappear into cyberspace, knowing that had I received it, it would have complicated my decision-making.

When God Moves… you often aren’t ready, expecting, or prepared.

That certainly has been the case.  But God is proving faithful at every step, and literally every day has a new provision being handed out.   We’re learning about manna and daily reliance on God, all over again.

There are still oh so many uncertainties, questions, and unknowns, but God has certainly built/re-built our faith in this process.   We appreciate your prayers, and certainly have felt the visceral impact of those prayers in the past.   I’m going to cut this short now, but will certainly post any new developments in this crazy transition.

I guess if I could leave you with one parting thought it’s this – don’t get comfortable!  The journey of faith (whether it involves physical relocations or not) is one that is meant to keep us on our toes.  It’s never promised to be easy or stress-free, but there is this amazing promise from Jesus Himself that His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light”.  In all the craziness, I can tell you with certainty – His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
(From Hebrews 12, NIV)

Much love in Christ – Jeremy & Tina

One of the 13 or so international telescopes on the peak of Hawai’i’s Mauna Kea. at 13000 above sea level, you feel somewhere in between the Earth and the rest of the Universe

“…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,  in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory”

(Ephesians 1:11-14, NIV)

Life is full of ironies and questions.  Some of them odd and some just plain painful.  Why does one cancer sufferer succumb to their affliction, and another recover to a renewed lease on life?  Why does a lovely, God-fearing, and sacrificial family suffer insane medical crises while other individuals far less concerned about God or others continue on in life unscathed and care free?  Why are we in the West so blessed to be born into our environment of relative ease, comfort, and wealth while someone continents away is born into abject squalor, exploitation, and violence?  These questions haunt me sometimes, because at the end of the day we can’t point to some kind of a “deserving scale” – as if those of us who don’t suffer as badly as others deserve it less.

Ephesians 1 is one of those theologically lofty chapters written by the Apostle Paul.  It can be hard to wade through sometimes, but even at a surface read you can be lifted to this amazing vista on eternity.  Paul seems to write from somewhere above the clouds of the world we know, but below an immense eternity we can’t fathom.  God, who “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” is a God who is not just “big picture oriented”, but He’s a God who has given us His Holy Spirit, as a “deposit”, guaranteeing what is yet to come in glory for those who follow Him.

In other words, He knows we have a lot of uncertainty and questions.    He knows our finite minds can’t possibly comprehend the answers to those “Why?” questions.  This is why in the Scriptures He never attempts to answer them.   He only reassures us of how big and powerful He is, and that all these things work in conformity to the purpose of his will.  This is why also He gives us His Holy Spirit.  His very presence in our lives is real, and it provides tangible assurance and transforming power to strengthen us in our weakness.

Charles Spurgeon builds on Paul’s point beautifully:

“In heaven our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus himself will be the fountain of it. Dark providences, never understood before, will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh! what unfoldings there will be and what glorifying of the God of love! … In this world it doth not yet appear what we shall be. God’s people are a hidden people, but when Christ receives his people into heaven, he will touch them with the wand of his own love, and change them into the image of his manifested glory. They were poor and wretched, but what a transformation! They were stained with sin, but one touch of his finger, and they are bright as the sun, and clear as crystal. Oh! what a manifestation! All this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of effulgent splendour, Jesus shall be the centre and soul of it all. Oh! to be present and to see him in his own light, the King of kings, and Lord of lords!”  (Morning and Evening, August 3rd, morning)

Regardless of the ironies and the tormenting questions, the Holy Spirit in us reminds us of these realities.  He shows us truly that no pain is wasted, and that God is in control.  In fact, without the Holy Spirit in us to reinforce it, that phrase “God is in control” is just another pithy saying.  I’m so thankful the truth of it is deep, dynamic, and powerful.  And it’s all because of Jesus.

The rest of Ephesians 1 really says it all:

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,  which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
(Ephesians 1:18-23, NIV)

The sun setting from the peak of Hawai’i’s Mauna Kea

 

 For my friend Ben and his family, the past week has been incredibly tumultuous. He has literally been dangling on a thread between life and death. If ever there has been a time when I have seen the tangible effects of God’s people praying, it has been during this week.The other day, Jen posted the following comment on Facebook when Ben was first beginning to emerge from sedation:

“Holding Ben’s hand. Looking deeply into his eyes. Hearing him say I love you. Listening to him repeat My Jesus is my strength…My Jesus is my strength. Seeing him being so thankful to the nurses when they gave him ice. Being reminded that God’s ways are not our ways. Resting in the sovereignty of Our Savior.”

Wow. I hope and pray my life can reflect that kind of grace. To awake from the nightmare of suffering and pain repeating, “my Jesus is my strength, my Jesus is my strength.”. 

 I hope and pray we may embody the words of this final section of Isaiah 40 with the same kind of Holy Spirit-infused confidence in the strength of our God.

“Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.”

Playalinda Beach, Titusville FL

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
   or weighed the mountains on the scales
   and the hills in a balance?

Grand Canyon from the South Rim

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
   or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
   and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
   or showed him the path of understanding?

Napali Coast, Kauai

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
   they are regarded as dust on the scales;
   he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
   nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
   they are regarded by him as worthless
   and less than nothing.

With whom, then, will you compare God?
   To what image will you liken him?
As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
   and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
   and fashions silver chains for it.
A person too poor to present such an offering
   selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
   to set up an idol that will not topple.

Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

Moonlit sky above the clouds on Mauna Kea – Big Island, Hawaii

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
   and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
   and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught
   and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
   no sooner are they sown,
   no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
   and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

“To whom will you compare me?
   Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Starry Night from my parent’s backyard in Newland, NC

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
   Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
   and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
   not one of them is missing…

Sunset from the peak of Mauna Kea – Big Island, Hawai’i

For the next several days, I’d like to just sit and meditate on Isaiah 40.  It has always been one of my favorite passages of Scripture.  The poetry of it is immensely beautiful, but the reality behind it even more stunning.  God is promising restoration to a nation that has backslidden.  But the promises threaded throughout this passage are timeless and relevant to people of suffering of all times, regardless of whether you are backslidden or not.

“Comfort, comfort my people,
   says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
   that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
   the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
   a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
   every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
   the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
   and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry out.”
   And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,
   and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
   Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   but the word of our God endures forever.”

You who bring good news to Zion,
   go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
   lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
   say to the towns of Judah,
   “Here is your God!”
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
   and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
   and his recompense accompanies him.

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
   He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
   he gently leads those that have young…”

County Shannon Ireland – rich pasture land in Western Ireland. Sheep and cows are seen regularly on these hills

Sunrise view from Chilhowee Mountain Retreat in Tennessee – looking over the Smokies. It was a powerful reminder that “His mercies are new every morning…”

It was an incredibly long day yesterday for Ben and his family.  A nearly 12 hour surgery that the doctor described being “difficult” and at times “hairy”.  Not two words you want to hear from your surgeon.  On her facebook page, Jenn commented late last night – “Just saw Ben a little while ago….so many wires, tubes, etc. but he is alive.”  Ben is not out of the woods and there are critical days ahead.  And so much uncertainty about the future.  Please continue your prayers for this family.  Ben needs a miraculous touch, he needs all of his organs to begin functioning again, he needs permanent healing.  His family needs the kind of assurance that can only come from the Spirit of God, Himself.

Another devotional I had read yesterday reminded me of Psalm 147, which has a promise I felt was completely relevant to not only Ben’s condition, but to many suffering people I know.

From the ends of the earth I call to you,
    I call as my heart grows faint;
    lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the foe.

As I write this entry early in the morning, a good friend of mine prepares for surgery.  It is his second reconstructive heart surgery in about a month.  For a 37 year old, this is unimaginable.  The emotional, spiritual, psychological, and physical roller coaster Ben, Jenn, and their entire family have hoped was slowing towards an end is in fact ratcheting up for another round, almost as if its operator is asleep in the booth. At least, that’s how it can seem.

For Ben, the moments ahead are intensely fragile. He is completely in God’s hands. Like a leaf swirling in uncertainty. Like the faint hearted psalmist above, Ben and his family need the Lord to lead them “to the rock that is higher than I”. Would you join me in prayer this morning for God to literally extend the years of Ben’s life? To be a very present and real refuge to his wife and kids. Would you pray with me for God to literally create a new heart within Ben?

Father, in this universe there is nothing that surprises you or catches you off guard.  You are Sovereign and you are Good.  We feel so harassed by our circumstances, fragile, dizzied, and out of control.  Would you rescue and sustain, heal and restore, strengthen and renew Ben and his family?  Would you supernaturally do what doctors imagine is impossible, that we, together with all your saints who have fought and struggled in the faith, would glorify your name and tell the world of the wonders you’ve done.  Would you do this in the lives of every faint and battered heart that may read these words – showing yourself Great, showing yourself Loving, and showing yourself Good.  We put our trust in you, King of the Universe – we love you.   In the powerful name of Jesus,

Amen

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I can make a claim most can’t who grew up on the East Coast – I had a redwood tree in my backyard.  Redwoods are amazing trees.  My mom often tells the story about me and my friends climbing up in that towering tree.  On one particular afternoon, she was walking beside our house and heard my voice call out “Hi Mom!  I’m up here!”.  To her terror, I had climbed nearly to the top of that tree, to the place where the limbs get conspicuously narrow and flimsy.  I vaguely recall the sway of the top of the tree, and thinking nothing of it.

When I look back on that crazy climbing feat, I wonder first what possessed me as a child to climb to the top of that tree.  Second, I wonder just how I managed to do it without becoming paralyzed by fear.  I think the answer is simple….I never looked down!  There was one goal on my mind:  reaching the top.

Sometimes our lives are filled with grief, suffering, and severe emotional strain.  It’s like we’re climbing an enormous tree in the hope that the top offers salvation, or at the very least perspective enough to understand why the suffering.  But that top can seem an eternity away.  And the higher we claim, the more paralyzing the prospect of losing our grip and falling to oblivion.

When Tina and I visited the West Coast again in 2007, we had the opportunity to drive through the Redwood National Forest.  Tina had never seen the West Coast, and had never seen trees this enormous.  I have to admit, even having grown up in the NorthWest seeing the immensity of these ancient trees humbled me.  It was awe-inspiring.

And though the redwood tree in my backyard was nowhere as massive as these majestic beauties, gazing up I remembered my courage as a child, and now, as an adult, thinking how such a feat was unthinkable.  “I’d never make it to the top of that tree” I thought.  And from the base I was overwhelmed by a sense of my smallness.

I suppose that’s a good place to start, however.  Reminded of our smallness, and by comparison the utter Greatness of God.  God was the designer, the planter, and the sustainer of these trees.  And like these trees, our suffering, which can seem as endlessly tall and unscalable, need not intimidate us or paralyze us with fear and doubt.  God calls us to climb, keeping our eyes fixed on Him.  Looking up constantly gives us the strength to grapple one limb at a time, to ignore what’s below and behind and keep focused on the end.  And with every inch we climb, we get nearer to that end.  Keeping our eyes on Christ reminds us that He is the creator of the tree, and strange as it sounds, there is security in that tree as we ascend higher in His strength.  For His glory is found there, in the most treacherous and stressful points of our climb.  This is how majestic and great our God is – He can make even the turmoil of our lives shine His glory, and bring Him praise.

I wonder if this isn’t part of the picture Isaiah paints in Isaiah 55:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

(From Isaiah 55, NIV)

Isaiah was prophetically writing this to a national audience that would experience the severest suffering imaginable.  Yet, God was promising that for those who returned to Him, and who kept their eyes upon Him through the harsh suffering, He was going to bring a miraculous restoration – “Instead of the thornbrush will grow the juniper…”.

That tree of suffering that you are climbing – it has an end, and it has a top from which you will be able to finally see things not viewable from below.  But perhaps the greatest miracle in that climb is that as you keep your eyes on Christ who calls you upward, you will find that tree breaking into song beneath you, clapping its hands and reminding you of the unfathomable greatness and love of God.

Tina standing in the “Chandelier Tree” – a tree through which you can drive a small vehicle.

“Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”
(Ezekiel 17:22-24)

This curious passage from Ezekial is part of a larger parable God gives Ezekial regarding God’s judgment on King Zedekiah of Judah – and the people of Judah by proxy.  For more information on the parable itself and its meaning, check out this brief explanation at Bible Gateway.

To distill the whole scenario down a bit, Judah’s leadership had wholesale ignored all of God’s prophets and their prophetic warnings regarding Judah’s need to repent of all its bloodshed, idolatry, injustice, licentiousness, and outright disregard for God.  Leading up to the Babylonian captivity and exile, Judah’s morality had ebbed to its lowest point, striking rock bottom, and permanently breaking its moral compass.  Instead of simply turning to Yahweh, repenting, and embracing His covenant again, Judah’s leaders felt they could negotiate their own course to peace with Babylon.  When it was obvious that wasn’t possible, they (Zedekiah) turned to the Pharaoh of Egypt instead for military support, a move which would ultimately cost him the kingdom, and his very life.  When, all along, God was beckoning him, and all of Judah, to repent and to trust in His wisdom.

It’s extremely sad….tragic really, when in duress we choose to run to every other human resource imaginable instead of the reliable, compassionate, strong arms of our Holy God and King.

And despite this sad state of affairs for Zedekiah and the unrepentant masses of Judah, God still brings a promise.  He will swoop down as the ultimate Eagle, break off His own sprig, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.  It will become a dwelling for every type of bird and a shade for all who are harassed and “lowly” in spirit.   This is a messianic prophecy and that “tender shoot” planted by God’s design in the driest, most unlikely mountain dwelling is none other than Jesus Christ.

I believe this Ezekial parable has two messages for us today:

First, it’s never too late to turn to Christ in repentance.  The worst thing we can do is trust in our own cleverness, resourcefulness, or strength.  It is our nature to try to run to human powers, institutions, and game plans when life gets challenging instead of running immediately to God.  This was Judah’s devastating tendency, and it continues to be ours today.   Whatever you are facing, before you consider anything else, run to God and His mercies.  His strength and wisdom is ultimate and unending.  He may lead you to pursue help from human resources or institutions, but if you don’t start with Him you’ll miss the path He intends for you.

Second, Christ is that tree planted on the heights (the desolate, unexpected places) that beyond comprehension or explanation, becomes a life-giving shelter and resource of strength to all the weary and beaten-up in spirit who flock to His branches.  I find that comforting.  God didn’t plant Him in the middle of the most fertile valley or by an Oasis – as if He was a desert mirage – but He is right there present in the midst of our desolate places and life experiences.  Isaiah prophetically described Him as a man accustomed to suffering, bruised and afflicted for our iniquity.   All for our redemption.  Jesus suffered, and that brings us great comfort, because He KNOWS suffering, and He KNOWS bitterness of soul.  But He also knows victory, resurrection, and redemption.

With a Savior like this, why would we ever run to an inferior worldly or human alternative?  Today, whatever it is you are suffering, whatever affliction you bear, run to God first, cry out to Christ and find shelter in His sturdy, weather-worn, resilient, and life-giving branches.

Wind Blown Trees on South Point, Big Island Hawaii

On our 15 year anniversary trip to Hawaii in 2013, Tina and I spent some time touring around South Point on the Big Island (Hawai’i).  At the very southernmost part of the island, which is also the southernmost point of the United States, these wind-formed trees caught my attention.  Evidenced by the numerous wind turbines dotting the landscape, this southern point of Big Island is consistently one of the windiest parts of Hawaii .  What was amazing to me was how the trees formed on this portion of the island all grew in contour to the wind gusts they had to withstand.  That said two things to me:  they were flexible, and they had really strong roots.

We often are called to face turbulence in this life that it seems impossible to withstand.  Yet, when we have put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ, and have filled our lives with His Word,  two things happen.  First, we grow spiritual roots that anchor us deeply in good, strong, and gripping soil.  These are roots we don’t typically see (being beneath the surface) but whose powerful evidence are felt most acutely when our spiritual muster is being challenged.  Second, because of those roots, we don’t just withstand the wind, we actually grow in it and in spite of it.  The Apostle Paul describes this spiritual phenomenon in 2 Corinthians –

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. … Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-11,16-18, NIV)

It is the very life of Christ in you that gives you resilient roots, that courses life-giving sap through every limb and branch, and that molds you into something unexpectedly beautiful in the face of harsh, unrelenting wind.  The conditions are rarely something we’d willfully choose for ourselves, but in God’s gracious and sovereign wisdom He uses them to shape us, and He uses that miraculous renewing and sustaining work in us to prove to the world He is real.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”