Chopping Down Trees and Building The Church

This past weekend I did two things for the first time.  I cut down an enormous tree in my yard, and I went to a local church for the first time.  Here is what learned from both.

The reason I had to cut the tree down wasn’t because of the tree itself, but the box elder bugs that like to have romantic interludes on it.  That’s right, the box elder tree is apparently the Poconos of the flora family and business is very good!  The exterminator said “you can’t get rid of the bugs if you don’t get rid of the tree”.  So in the name of Dave Ramsey, I decided to cut down the tree myself and save the $300 bucks.  So this little bug caused me to have a major job on my hands.

The church I visited yesterday has been on my mind for almost a year.  Long ago I drove by and felt God telling me to stop in and help them.  I stop by alot of churches with my job, so that isn’t unusual.  The prompting of the Holy Spirit IS ALWAYS unusual to me though.

So I connected with them and found out they are searching for a new pastor. Yesterday, on my first visit,  their youth pastor announced he will also be leaving.  After the sermon, I had a chance to speak to a couple of the key people on the search team and I could sense the emotion.  A very real frustration and hurt compounded by an up hill battle ahead of them.  There is a general sense of question about the future and the vision for this church.

So as stood beneath the tree that afternoon,  I had this church on my mind.   I was impressed about how much bigger it looked underneath it that it does from a distance.  You don’t really appreciate the power God placed in something as simple as a tree until there’s a real chance it could fall on you.  You’ll notice my emotion on the video.

So here is what I learned.  Trees, and life’s challenges, always look bigger when you stand beneath them.  So don’t stand under there by yourself.  Find someone who can help you take a look at the situation from a distance.  Get perspective, do your best, then stand back and watch God work.

What’s the tree your standing under right now?  Who will you talk with today about it?

Have an incredible day!