An ancient proverb says, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today." Looking back on the past twenty years of my life, it's easy to see all the trees that should have been planted: I should have invested more, studied more, taken more picnics with the kids, appreciated others more, watched TV less, worried less, laughed more, enjoyed life more, and on and on.
It's easy to see today all the trees I failed to plant twenty years ago. And it may be tempting to dwell on those good things left undone. God, however, has forgotten them; those sins of omission have been cast into the same sea of forgetfulness as our other sins.
Instead, I must be about the business of planting trees today. Paul said, "Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) Yesterday will never be any different than it was, but the pages of now are still blank. Today is the day of salvation; today is the day to start planting trees!
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I planted a tree of forgiveness. I forgave my abusers from times past, offenders dedicated to building obstacles for my roots, & even myself for being barren in fruit-bearing. Once I got a little taste of what forgiveness yields to others, I thought "WOW-there's my chance to make up for all the failures of the past!" So--I adopted a new mission statement for my life: to find people who don't deserve it & go out of my way to show them mercy. Hopefully I can somehow share the depth of the love Christ has for me by giving it away with the greatest sacrifice & deepest love of my heart. Happy to have people love me, but excited to find those who cannot & FORGIVE them proactively whether the error is against me or someone I love or only to themselves. The Holy Spirit has taken me on full-time to show me how to dig deep roots & make BIG room for this tree to prosper & bear the best & sweetest fruit. I have a LOT to learn. BUT-I learned from Hannah Hurnard's Hinds Feet on High Places that "It is so happy to love" -a lesson learned from the waterfall where the water sings about "going low" in humble service to love freely. AMAZING BOOK! I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE being discipled in the "Valley of Humiliation" being "Much Afraid", journeying with "Sorrow and Suffering" & coming out with "Grace and Glory".
Don't forget to look around and see how the trees you planted over the past 20 years are tall and strong and healthy.
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