pushing through the dirt Saturday, June 27, 2009 |
Good morning friends. Have you ever just felt dusty? Let's get real, have you ever been tripping through a muddy pit? Ever had one of those days where you feel like you are climbing and working and trying to get somewhere only to realize you are on an escalator that's on warp speed. You're going no where but spending a whole lot of energy doing it? It's not a fun realization. I think about this a lot. Where do I need to be, what can I spend my time doing that will really matter? Is it worth the effort to study, invest in relationships, keep things clean(I'm just being honest), drive 100 miles a day, accumulate debt? What am I really up to? What does God think about what I'm up to?
David Crowder, the scruffy modern-day musician, belts out some lyrics that put a little structure to my musings.
I am full of earth
You are heaven’s worth
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything that is bright and clean
The antonym of me
You are divinity
But a certain sign of grace is this
From a broken earth flowers come up Pushing through the dirt
You are everything that is bright and clean
And You’re covering me with Your majesty
And the truest sign of grace was this
From wounded hands redemption fell down
Liberating man
I am full of earth and dirt and You
(exerpts from the song Wholly Yours)
There's a comfort and peace that comes from knowing what my Maker is up to. Maybe it is not so much about what I'm up to everyday. Maybe what He has already done overshadows my worries. Just think, if He can bring up flowers from dirt, He can bring beautiful, fruitful things from my life. I may be covered in Mud, but that's when the new growth can come. Hmm, maybe that means I can stop cleaning so much... Anyway, just look at this dirt here in a photo from my backyard. There's nothing special about the dirt. It's just dirt. But look what is growing from it. Is it just a hunter green bush, or is it something more?
Hang with me a minute...this is one of those concepts that makes me smile so big that tears start trickling out of my eyes for joy. Not only did God make a way to rescue me from the pit of despair I ran to over and over, but He made a beautiful way. Up from the dirt, the flowers spring up. Not only thorns or boring hunter green bushes but beautiful, awe inspiring flowers.
Isaiah another probably scruffy guy from ancient days shares some more insight...
"You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;
[the pink flowers are called crape myrtles]
it will make a name for the LORD
as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
Isaiah 55
Hello friends. I've been a little quiet again. Don't worry I'm still loving life, enjoying the scenery and catching up on a little Gilmore Girls. I'm up to season 6 these days. If you know me, you know that I'm a little slow on keeping up with culture. I think that TV is much more fun to watch on DVD years later!