Greetings,
So far I 've been enjoying the early fall season here
in southwest Ohio and took full advantage of it by
taking walks up and down the street where I live on
and watching the trees along the street changing colors.
The trees' branches reach out almost over the street to
form a sort of tunnel and in the fall it is something to see.
Speaking of trees a story from the spiritual guidebook
Our Daily Bread titled 'Quaking Aspens' got my attention.
In this story the author tells of a story of certain trees
whose leaves fluttered at the slightest breeze while the
other trees around them appeared calm and steady.
When the author pointed them out to his wife she told
him those were called quaking aspens. The aspen
leaves are so flat that even the faintest breeze makes
them shake, hence the name quaking aspen.
Reading this story really hit home with me as I have
had some issues some weeks back which were really
quite minor and perceived as something worse and
like the said aspen tree that quaked at the slightest
breeze, I "quaked" at the slightest issue.
But it was the issues in question which helped me take
a good long hard look at myself and where I stood in
my faith. Sad to say, I wasn't standing very strong.
While in counselling with a church elder who is also
a close friend, I found out that I idolized the good
in life to the point that when bad came , well, I
couldn't handle it. And these were slights, too.
Idolatry often does that.
My church elder friend then illustrated to me the
spirals of life where it curves up (good) then down
(bad). Kind of like being on the mountaintop then
down in the valley. There was a hymn that we sang
at a church I attended before moving here in Cincinnati
that spoke of being in the mountaintop and down in the
valley. I forget the title of that hymn but the spirals of
life illustration my friend drew made me think about that.
This also reminds me of the Old Testament book of Job
in chapter two when Satan strikes Job with boils from head
head to toe and his wife tells him to curse God and die.
Here is how Job replies:
"You speak as a foolish woman. Shall we only accept
good from God and not adversity?" Job 2:10
One thing about Job, he wasn't like me, the author of the
ODB story or the quaking aspen tree, and his issues were
far worse than what I had experienced, yet Job was stead-
-fast in his faith.
Two Thessalonians 3:16 reads:
"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace
always and in every way."
Phillipians 4:6 reads:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known to God. And the peace of God, which
surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus."
True peace is the presence of God in a conflict, not
the absence of the conflict itself. And it is because
of that reason that I haven't withdrawn from the faith
nor left the church. I have my elder friend and other
church family to be thankful for this as well.
P.S. Just to let everyone know that the issue in
question that I went through was not a church
issue, it was personal. There is no cause for
concern.
Have a blessed day. :)
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