live love.

i had a great conversation with a friend named bob the other day.
we were talking about growth.
he gave me the example of buildings and trees.
as i was showering this morning, i was thinking of that conversation.
and decided to write down what i was thinking.

how many times do we attempt to grow in the wrong way?

we try and grow in a systematic compartmentalized way.
today i’m gonna grow in love.
when i get that down, i’ll work on honesty. tomorrow humility.
we compartmentalize our very life and being into little boxes.
we think that once we arrive at or complete a box we can then move on to the next box.

we try and grow and like a building.
we complete the foundation, then the first story, then we advance to the next, and so on.
then we work on the details, like paint color, where outlets go, etc.

but no. thats not how it works.
thats not how we were meant to grow.
we are to be growing in every area of our life simultaneously.
sure maybe we grow faster in one area than another, but still there is growth. however small it may be.

grow the way we were intended to grow.
more like a tree.
roots growing every which way.
some branches longer than others.
some thicker, some thinner.
but they all grow together, and they grow every which way.
but the tree is growing as a whole none the less.
why don’t we every day grow more and more as a complete person?
why is it we only “grow” in little areas.
there is no blueprint or plan if you will.
God only knows how and which way and at what rate that tree is going to grow.

how often do we try and control our growth.
to orchestrate it.
to conduct it.
maybe we need to let go.
to lose control.
to no longer be the one deciding our growth.

man’s way is to grow like a building.
and that works for buildings and things of the such.
but i don’t know about you, but i’m not a building.

now i’m not a tree either.
but trees grow the way God wants them to grow.
the way He orchestrates them.
does it make sense for me to attempt to conduct my growth?
Jesus is right there wanting and desiring to grow me.

(i’m pretty sure Jesus has a much better idea of how i was meant to grow,
i mean since He created me and everything.)

seems backwards.
buildings grow in an organized systematic formula based way.
which seems all well and good.
and trees seem almost chaotic. wild. not systematic. not organized.
no apparent rhyme or reason to the way they spread their branches.
but then how many things in scripture seem backwards to man’s way of thinking.

whoever will lose their life, will save it.
the first shall be last.
blessed are the poor.

i think humanity has it backwards.

Lord, grow me the way you want me to grow.
don’t let me orchestrate my growth.
may you be the Great Orchestrator and Creator in my life that you are with nature and this world.
humble me.
break me.
grow me.
i’m sorry for living against Your intended way.

This entry was posted Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 11:01 am and is filed under life, thoughts. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.