When Life Looks and Feels Mundane - Brown and Bare - There Just May Be Life Within

 

I mentioned in my previous post how March can get a bad rap known to be...  Brown.  Drab.  Mud. Bare. 

Yes, it is all true and in this season, we long for warmth and color.

Let's continue on this journey to see what is within and the possibilities that lie within the soil and trees. I'm continuing to invite you to look beyond and maybe if you think of the tree for who and what it is - it just may shift your thoughts about this season of not yet - the in between of winter and the warm spring air.

You see, sometimes I find it quite real and true of myself and relate with the bare, brown, and mundane landscape of the March season. 

What you see across the landscape is the brown and bareness of the trees, as they stand in the mundane, common, and with vulnerability.  The trees and ground are void of the color of the sharp green grass, the yellow daffodils, the green that fills the branches of the trees, the various colors of the flowers that will eventually shoot forth and grace us with their beauty.

But let's stop for a moment and pause.  What you see of the tree and the ground is really what creates the space for all that beauty.  As the tree stands, stripped and bare of visible color and life, it stands vulnerable with life within.

I remember vividly a long season that I passed through the typical four seasons and stayed in the one that found me bare and void of visible productivity.  As I was taking a walk one afternoon and the sun was gracing the brown and the bare trees, the thought flashed through my mind - 'it's beautiful.'

Wait.  What?  Brown and bare = beautiful; no way!

Life is more than the fruit, the leaves, and the color.  Life is really what is within.  For the fruit, the leaves, and the color only happen as a result of what is within.  If the tree is dead within, no visible life will happen without or at least not for very long and most certainly won't withstand a wind storm.

This spoke to me and I saw the bare and brown of the landscape as beautiful in its own way for it truly holds the truest of life.

I, too, find myself in seasons and times that leave me stripped and bare.  But like the tree as it puts its roots down, resting and replenishing itself for the coming spring and summer's growth; I too, am called to put my roots down in Jesus, learning more of who He is.

He is Life and wants me to know Him as the Abundant Life.

Life within matters more than visible life without.  As the sun's rays warm the earth we see the stirrings of that life come to the surface.

The maple trees are tapped as the sun's warming rays stir the life within.  Sap is turned into syrup which we enjoy on our pancakes.  Grass starts to turn green.  The trees take on the hue of the emerging colour of leaves.  The new shoots of green that burst forth as spring daffodils, forsythia, lilacs, snowdrops and more start to color the landscape is invigorating.

In the mundane, the normal, the bareness creates a space to appreciate all this emerging life that laid silent within the earth and trees. 

To know color and the beauty of flowers we must know the season of rest and life within.  If there was always production, always a giving, when would we and nature ever rest and replenish?

So, as the white winter gives way to muddy March and the cold winds that still blow - stay.  Stay and remember the season of growth cannot be hurried and there is something right now that grows us, within, if we train our eyes to see life.  

Maybe God is inviting you to sit in this season of bare, mundane, and vulnerability to learn more of who are in Him without any external validation.

Maybe He is inviting you to understand the life within that is stirring, unseen but oh so alive, just waiting for the warmth of spring to stir it to something more - the birthing of life without.

Bare, Brown, and Beautiful Landscape

 

March is known for its mud, brown, and drab appearance.  It gets a bad rap as the white winter snows melt away and the ground thaws leaving mud in its wake and weather that gives way to spring rains mixed with winter's slushy precipitation.  One day it's warm with the tantalizing promise of spring only to have winter's grip grace us with water that comes in the form of sleet or snow.

What do we do with this month?

As I look at the landscape as the trees stand without their leaves and exposed.  I am reminded of a truth - life is hidden within.  I can complain about the brown and mud (and yes, I do too sometimes) or I can be aware and reminded that the tree is not beautiful because of its leaves or fruit; no, it's beautiful because it's life.  We don't have to like the mud and brown landscape but we can choose to see what's beyond and within it.

The tree stands as it is.  What you see is really who the tree is.  Without what you see - there would be no leaves or fruit in a few months.  Right now the life is within and the tree is resting inside and can stand in the harsh winds of winter because of the life within itself.

The landscape of brown grass that stretches out before us, contains the life within, waiting for the warmth of the sun and the longer light of the days to stir it to green and lush.

This truth hits home to my heart.  I too, can stand in life's hard and harsh winds and storms because of the life within me - the breath and life of Jesus.  I am not defined by what I do or what I say.  I am not defined by the leaves of success as the world defines it or even my own definition.  I am not defined by the bareness that I feel without at times, and that I may feel within.  I am not who I am because of what I do or don't do.  I am who I am because of Jesus.

This changes the way I view the trees and the landscape.  It also changes the way I see myself and the way I weather the storms.

It is holy ground.  I stand in awe and worship.  

When we see ourselves through the eyes of God, our Creator and Lover, we will bend in the winds but not  be knocked over.  We can stand tall as we stand bare and vulnerable.  We're not defined by the changing seasons and times because the Life within us defines us.

I invite you to see the brown and bare as beautiful.  It's beautiful because in all the vulnerability of the tree, the life is within.  Sometimes in all honesty, I, too, feel stripped - bare and brown to the world around me.  Even here, the life that can happen within is the beauty of the bare, brown, and beautiful vulnerability.

It's so freeing to not be defined by what 'hangs on the tree' of who I am.  For whether I am successful or hidden, whether I am producing or resting - I am loved!

You see, when I am stripped of what seems to be my identity and I stand bare and vulnerable, it creates the space for me to find out who I really am and gives opportunity for me to keep on remembering Whose I am - God's.

Settle in closer to God.  Worship Him with your wounds and your joys.  Worship Him with the both/and of life that you may be walking through.  Stay with Jesus - with hope because spring will come.

The Gripping Faithful Love of God Our Father

 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

I John 4:18a

It doesn’t take long to know fear and for some reason it seems to override the presence of love pretty easily. Unknowns leave us feeling out of control and grasping for something to keep us steady. Broken relationships leave us stranded and fearing the aloneness that threatens to suffocate us. The phone call we receive that informs us of a sudden diagnosis or words that leave us reeling in their wake.

I remember a day in fifth grade. It was the last period of the school day and it was a time to get school work completed so books would not need to be carried home. For some unknown reason, I was the object of others' unkindness. I carried books home. I also began to carry a fear.

I began to fear others, trying to figure out what was wrong with me so I could fit in and be accepted. It became my framework, broken as it was.

February is a month that tosses the word love around pretty freely. The question that bears asking is, “What really is love?”

Why do we search and seek for love in so many wrong places? What drives us? Do you feel the ache of searching for love?

Our relationships and connections here on this earth are limited and faulty. Not one of us loves perfectly. The brokenness of earthly love leaves us gripping, grasping and searching for - something.

There is One who does love perfectly and that is God. God is love. It is who He is. I John 4:7 is one of the many verses that tell us that love is from God. 

Fear and love are two companions that want to keep us company. The unique thing is - they cannot both be our good friends. One or the other keeps its grip on our heart. Only one is a good companion.

Decades after that day in fifth grade and in the middle of the darkness of health complications and estranged relationships, I reached out in desperation to know God even more and in ways deeper than ever I had known. As the days and months turned into years, I was surprised by the unexpected transformation of knowing God’s love in deep ways.

When God’s love becomes rooted and grounded in our hearts, it anchors us in each and every storm we encounter, steadying us. When God’s love grips our heart fear loses its grip.  

We can say with David in Psalm 56:11, In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 118:6, The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

We wrestle with understanding God’s love because we tend to interpret it with the tangible and limited love of those around us - our parents, friends, partners, etc. We must let go of that framework and learn to trust God, believing His truth that He is love and He loves - period. He loved us while we were sinners. He sent Jesus, His Son, to be our Saviour because He loves us so much He provided the way back to Him.

As we struggle to believe His love, it’s an invitation to lean in towards Him and to ask Him to show us. Pain and fear disorients us and we lash out. God is usually the recipient of our anger and questions. It’s okay, He isn’t afraid of them. So, lean in towards Him with courage to ask Him to reveal to you how much He loves you.

His perfect love will cast out the fear in your heart. It’s the only way to dispel fear. Fear loses its grip as God’s faithful love grips your heart.

The Season of Winter

 

Winter is a hard season, one filled with bitter winds, slushy roads, sliding and slipping into ditches.  But it's also filled with glorious sunshine, crunchy sound beneath the boots, crisp and rejuvenating air, sledding down a hill, maybe even a snow machine ride.  

Wooded areas become exposed as trees give way to bare branches.  Things that were hidden as trees were filled with leaves and fruit can now be seen - that barn, branches laced with the sun's radiant glory.  

Life is now dormant, laying beneath the cold earth that may be covered with snow.  Life takes on a new role as roots go down deeper and the sap is being renewed for the season that is to come.

Winter is a time for rest and replenishing.  It's a time for quiet life to be within, not only in nature but also in our own heart and mind.

When the harsh winds of rejection, loss of a loved one, job, or friendship blow; it's easy to forget the 'sunshine and warmth'.  Our winters are a time to go deeper with Jesus and to put our roots further into His presence.  Letting the warmth of the Son fill our souls and lace our lives with His glory.

Winter is remembering who we really are without the signs of life and productivity.  For the tree as it stands tall, bare, and exposed is really all that it is, for without what's within there would be no visible life of fruit and leaves in the coming season.

We are completely loved and whole because we are the son or daughter of Jesus.  We are His beloved.  We are redeemed.  And no amount of doing, productivity, or lack thereof will alter that truth.  Our life is within, the hope and love of Jesus is the sap that keeps us.

Life within, where quiet growth may happen, is the truest of springs and the life that matters most.

The Miracle of Wonder

 

Luke 2:13-14 such extravagant wonder - the multitude of angels piercing the darkness with the glorious refrain of "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

The night was split open with the light of the angel and the glorious light of the promise of truth and hope.  The night was first broken by the angel telling the Shepherds that the promise, that had been passed down through the ages, came tonight.  Jesus, your Saviour was born and He is wrapped.  He is wrapped in cloths and laying in a manger.

After the multitude of angels left, the Shepherds looked at each other and said, "Let us go and see."  "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:15

Wonder.

This Christmas season, your hillside may be dark; fraught with loss and pain, and you may be waiting... waiting for light.  The Light has come - it split the darkness that night many years ago and the hope of Jesus, the promises He gives to us today - still split open our darkness with truth and light; giving us the gift of life; eternal life.

May that truth and hope fill you with the wonder of it all and like Mary, treasure it in your heart.

Come Out - Loose Him and Live

 

Life.  Sometimes I wonder if we really understand what living and life really is.

Let me take a moment and let's travel dusty roads to look back over the paths Jesus walked and the life giving He demonstrated and lived.

As He broke bread and told us to remember this - He gave thanks; all while knowing what He was about to walk through.

He gave thanks before breaking the bread and then it was passed to over 5,000 hungry people.

The kernel of wheat must die before giving birth to more kernels.

Jesus died, giving His life so that we may have life.  These are just a few...

Really.  Paradoxical to my way of thinking.  This is not the way I picture life coming and being given.  But it is the way of Jesus; upside down to we humans who strive after perfect as we were created to be in the beginning.  We plant, not even thinking of the seed that needs to die to produce the flowers and veggies we look forward to enjoying.

Lazarus laid in the grave for four days.  He was stinking by now and bound.  His sisters, Marry and Martha were grieving, after all they sent a message to Jesus to come and the road was empty of the visible presence of Jesus as Lazarus took his last breath.

As Martha met Jesus when He came, her words held the question, the wondering, the disappointment.  The words that followed also held her hope and belief in who Jesus is.

Jesus spoke to her that He is the Resurrection and the Life and she responded with, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." John 11:27 (italics added)

Jesus paused at the tomb of Lazarus after he laid there for four days and lifted His eyes toward His Father, and gave thanks.  He gave thanks that He hears.  But first the instructions Jesus gave were to remove the stone and Martha who had just declared to believe Jesus; struggled to understand, declaring that by now there will be a stench!

Jesus reminds her, "Did I not say - to you - if you believe you will see the glory of God?"  As Jesus paused, He looked up and gave thanks.  He gives thanks knowing that His Father hears.  He gave thanks because of what God would do for the benefit of the people.  He wanted them to really know who He is and we learn that through the experience. 

God hears our cries - right at the entrance of our graves.

Broken pieces.  Brokenness given to Jesus gives way to the birthing of life; deep within our souls and that's what matters the most.  It's the fullest healing and sometimes it simply doesn't look like we thought it would.

And that remains a mystery, but one I'm learning to lean into when the next hard comes.  I may be like Martha and still say something practical like 'there will be a stench'; but I'm learning to trust the Giver of Life and the One who gave His life with thanks so that I may have eternal life; the fullness of life.

And so, I stop, look up and give thanks.  Thanks giving is thanks living.

Maybe for you, this season of thanksgiving is brutal.  Maybe life simply doesn't make sense and the road to your house remains 'empty' of the presence of Jesus.  Let's just sit 'together' for a moment and let's remember - He is here.  Jesus knew about Mary and Martha and Lazarus' last breath.  He hasn't forgotten you and like Jesus said, " Let us go..." He will come and He does come.  In your pain He just may not be visible.  That is okay - but I breathe a prayer that you may rise with faith like Martha did; choosing to still believe and some day, give thanks for who He is.

The Origin of Life

 

Life.  To be alive, breathing, spirit, you, living is to have life.

Genesis 2:7 says, Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 1:20 tells us that God created living creatures to swarm in the waters.

Genesis 1:30 says, and to everything that moves on the each which has life, I have given.

Life began at the word of God.  Life started at the mere spoken words that echo through time in the living of the creatures that God created.

But for man, life began when God stooped over and breathed into man His own breath of life and man's chest heaved with the first intake of God's breath.

When Satan slithered into the garden, lying on a branch of a tree and hissed the words to Eve to look at the fruit; He was after God.  Satan knew if he could get Eve to doubt God's goodness and take from the one tree that God said, "No", that the knowledge of evil would kill and destroy life in its purest form, God's breath.  The end result would be in expired breath, death.

But God didn't let us in this state without a way, a way back to life.  That very day He promised a Saviour, a Redeemer, One who would come and save the world; to give life by giving His life.

Although death has entered our world and we now know pain, suffering, and death; God wants to continue to breathe life into our souls.  Among this brokenness we can choose life and Jesus came to give us life and to give it abundantly. John 10:10

Life continues to be found in Jesus.  Life is found as we sit at His feet and inhale His grace, exhaling our expectations.  It's found as we inhale His forgiveness and release, exhaling our mistakes and choosing repentance.  It's found in the letting go and choosing to rest in His provision, His being enough.

Literally, life is found between the exhale and the inhale.  And deep breaths actually calm us down and can help us to regulate when anxiety and fears loom large.

Spiritually and emotionally, life is also found between the exhale and the inhale; the letting go and the receiving.

So today, in whatever state or position you find yourself in; stop, take a deep breath and let it go; receiving the breath of God in exchange.

Choosing God is choosing life.

Living in God's truth is living life abundantly.

Choosing to give thanks is to remember who God is and to add Him into your situation.  Choosing to believe His words of truth leads us to the doorway and on to the path of freedom.

Choosing to live out the truth of God and to believe Him is to find life and to find it to be enough and more than enough.  (Just so you know, it doesn't lessen the validity of what you're walking through it only puts it in its place and allows you to live the miracle of God's upside, miraculous way.)

Choosing God is to choose life.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Deep breaths