Since he's less than four feet tall and since he is too young to understand the fine art of tree decorating, we ended up with about a dozen jingle bells in one section at the bottom of the tree. When I suggested to him that we spread them out on the tree, he told me that it was fine how it was.
I have to admit that my first reaction was to move the jingle bells. In fact, I planned to rearrange them that night after he went to bed. But instead, I decided to leave them. I realized that his involvement was more important than having a "perfect" tree, and now I love looking at the section of jingle bells because it reminds me of my son.
Just as it would have been much easier for me to do the tree by myself, it would be a lot easier for God to do the work of spreading the gospel by Himself. In fact, I'm sure He would be a lot better at it than we are. God wants to work with us, not because we are the most qualified or because we can do an amazing job, but in spite of our abilities. He wants to spend time with us, just like I wanted to spend time with my son. God wants us to be involved in the work, just like I wanted my son to be involved in the decorating. Just like I augmented my son's decorations to make the tree look good, God takes our efforts and wraps them in His power and makes it into something beautiful.
But I'm really not like God; I'm the child. God takes my cluster of jingle bells and weaves it into a beautiful tree. God takes my mess of a life and makes it into a beautiful story of redemption. God doesn't need my abilities, but He wants to work with me. God joined with humanity; it is the story of Christmas, and it is the plan for spreading the gospel.
Chad Hess
Wow! I am so touched by this tears are falling. So beautifully said & very inspirational. THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lynn!
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