I recently had the opportunity to go away for a few days to a place surrounded by beautiful country side. While I was there, I met 2 people and we went for a walk together. It was November, but it was a beautiful crisp autumn morning. The leaves were crunching underfoot, there were squirrels and rabbits scampering around, the leaves were all shades of yellow and orange – it was justa glorious walk in God’s creation.
Walking with others can be a great experience, like this time. One of the people I was walking with took great delight in everything she saw, and would marvel over little things like the rabbits, or point out things that caught her eye. She really was a joy to walk with.
One of the things she pointed out was a cluster of mushrooms growing near the base of an oak tree. She said how amazing it was that something like that could just grow in a day. I didn’t know mushrooms could grow in 24 hours, but I have since looked it up and some varieties can. It was a strange juxtaposition, to think of these mushrooms that can grow in 24 hours sitting right next to a huge oak tree which takes 5 or 6 years to be fully self-sustaining.
Sometimes I think we can wish were like those mushrooms – 24 hours and done, quick fixes, all grown up and lessons learnt. But more often life is like that oak tree. Starting off as an acorn and spending years developing, and then continuing to grow even after becoming self-sustaining and becoming one of the grandest trees (in my opinion, partly because I’m British and partly because they remind me of my childhood – I quite like oak trees!)
Philippians 1: 6 says, ‘he who began a good work in you will see it through to completion’. Wherever you are at the moment, if things look like they’ll never change or your stuck somewhere in limbo, remember you are not a mushroom, it’s not gonna be 24 hours and you’re finished. You are an acorn, taking years to grow and develop, and the end result is something huge and grand which doesn’t ever stop growing. Take heart, the Lord is working in you.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 