“Don’t be
discouraged or anxious, the Lord has chosen to give you the Kingdom." ~ Luke
12:22-34
“Life just isn’t fair,” thought the
tiny seed buried in the mud. While
others were thriving above, Zera (Hebrew for seed), was stuck in the dark, wet
dirt. A few days ago, she’d fallen to
the ground. Then it rained a little
before a deer crushed her deep into the soil.
But what Zera didn’t see, was
the mouse that ate the seedlings in the grass, the chipmunk that gathered them
to store for the upcoming winter, or even the fire that scorched all that lived
above; casting it as confetti into the sky.
Autumn days soon got shorter,
colder. Winter settled in for the long
embrace to Mother Earth, freezing the life from those seedlings who hadn’t taken
sufficient care.
Spring arrived! Zera heard the promise of summer. Warmer days and soothing rains brought the
song she needed to raise her spirit. As
she warmed and sipped heaven-given rain, her tiny shoot emerged, reaching for
sunlight, joining a community of other plants rising bold and vibrant.
In the next 12 months, it grew
only a few inches while the other plants made greater strides as if to mock
her. Having lost her leaves in the fall,
the sapling barely survived the bitter winter.
As it grew, she faced critters, droughts, and windstorms.
Zera grew many times larger than
the seedling she once was, yet still only a fraction of what she was destined
to become. Even while she reached higher
and higher into the sunny blue sky, Zera never forgot her roots; sending them
deeper and farther into the mud that’d once miraculously protected her.
Each year, Zera grew upward and outward. She survived tornadoes and floods and
cloudless skies. She’d become a
magnificent oak tree; her bark so patterned as if carved by rain-born rivers. The foliage of her canopy supported all life
on earth; her deep, anchoring roots absorbed fuel for decades of healthy life.
This fallen world provides ample opportunities for despair; it’s
a wonder anyone is happy. It’s difficult
missing your work friends due to COVID, facing a debilitating disease, or being
mocked for your Christian values. It’s exhausting
to worry about social injustice, economic insecurity, and corruption in
politics and government. It seems as
though we’re witness to a world in rapid decay.
We’re all touched by its
brokenness, but reassurance can be found in God’s grace. It’s not us against an evil world. Believers are citizens of another
Kingdom. And while everything around us
is impermanent, His Kingdom has no end. Like
the tiny seed, sink your moral roots deep, grateful that life’s challenges have
given us resilience, courage, and faith in the One who created us.
