Sometimes we need to just spit it out and say what we are thinking even if there is no answer readily available. For instance, complaining about something that has no seeable answer. "That rose looks like it died." Great observation! It wasn't rocket science. The comment may have been a statement meant to elicit a "fix it" response from the man who cares for the garden. "There's a light bulb burned out." Really?! And... You get the drift but some are even more frustrating. For instance, "The car is making a noise." I answered, "Good, that means it's still running. Count your blessings." Wrong answer but it was what I really and truly thought. Jesus asks us some questions that are meant to elicit a response as well. For instance, "Will you give up all to follow me?" All? That's a question that is loaded for the worldly Christian. Yet, it's simply a genuine question to see whom we truly belong to. "Love your neighbor as yourself." Okay, now we are getting just plain ridiculous! You mean that so and so? Yes, Steve, I mean him too! Then there's the good old, "Take no thought for tomorrow for tomorrow has enough troubles of it's own" and "Do not worry about tomorrow." You see, there is the problem. We THINK we have to worry about tomorrow when tomorrow's worries are not even a reality. Live for today for Christ and you are in a great space.
Yet, in spite of all I mess up, God is offering grace and forgiveness to me because I belong to him. How does that work? The workings of grace and forgiveness are his alone. Mankind does grace and forgiveness but seem to be graceless and unforgiving in so many areas of their lives. We have come up against a choice. That choice is simple to engage but difficult to do because we think our choice is right though it's not and that which is falls short of the grace and forgiveness of God. We can live in only one world to be truly a disciple of Christ. His world. When we choose to live in our world we reject Christ's perfect life for us. Contrary to so many people saying it, we don't live "on the fence" even if they think there is a Christian fence. You are either living for God or against God. Don't like it? Find a better way to be saved from the pit of hell. Yes, I know life is difficult. What if we were to give that difficult life over to God to handle? Would it be easier than trying to do life ourselves? Yep!
Last year I pruned the fruit trees on the property. They had been neglected for many years by the former owner. I read up on the pruning techniques and watched video's of a professional pruner before going to work. After taking away the unnecessary branches the trees were smaller, had more breathing space and looked horrible! Yet, that was exactly what the trees needed. This year the fruit harvest was great in most of the trees. Some trees will need another year of recovery to be good producers. I'll have to trim again this winter to accomplish that. In the meantime people thought the pruned trees had been killed because they weren't lush and full like they had been. I asked for patience on their part to see what the pruning resulted. People are impatient with waiting. People want to see instant this or that. You'll probably notice many housing tracts where young "green" trees are planted to close to houses and later need to be taken out. Not good planning on the contractor but he/she were only honoring the wishes of the new owners. They wanted greenery NOW and they were given their wish. Christians are in that same boat. While we want what God has to give us, we aren't willing to be patient and follow His timeline, go through his pruning and yield his fruit. But then, it's always been our choice.
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