God in Bonsai

Every day I meet people that are going places long term. They have goals, vision, and a sense of purpose in their career, education, and calling. These are very good things, but occasionally the same individuals get worn out in the day to day grind and forget a few key things. This is for you because I can relate.

One day a couple of weeks ago I was sitting on my back porch among my bonsai trees. I was writing some of my thoughts out and was shocked at what came out. Fears, doubts, and expectations that in my mind were not coming through began creeping up and ending up on the page. One of the questions I was asking were: if God has called me and equipped me to do big things, why am I often stuck in the mundane daily tasks? This was not the first time that I had this question.

My perspective dramatically shifted when I looked down at my Japanese Maple. Some of the inner branches were dead, and the outer younger branches were perfectly fine. I began to closely examine the tree and realized what happened. I had slacked and did not prune the last springs vigorous new leaf growth enough. This resulted in the inner branches not getting enough sunlight thus causing them to die off. I learned a few important lessons that day about my trees and about real life:

1. Everyone has been given a tree.
   Identify your current project, and nurture it. What is your sweet spot? are you working too little or too much? 2 questions I have been asking myself lately is what is my tree and how am I cultivating it?
2. Diligence matters
   

   “Psalm 104:14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth”

   What I do today directly affects what happens tomorrow. If i miss a week of working in the garden, everything falls apart. If we buy in to the instant-result mentality of our culture, we will be disappointed in ourselves and God. On top of that, prayer is not enough. Now before you throw a rock at me, hear me out. If I work really hard on my maple, fertilize it, water it, prune new growth, and make sure it has all its needs, it will thrive. If I have an identical tree and just pray that God provides it for all it needs,but do not work on it, it will most likely die.

3. Don’t compare trees
   Something that I caught myself doing was looking at other peoples results, crops, or fruit and being hard on myself, asking why not me?

The reality is that I have not been given that story to tell. My story is unique and so is yours, be proud of it!