This tree is standing tall. There is not an ounce of the tree that doesn’t say, here I am, and here I will be. This tree always inspires me, as it is unashamedly proud of what it is, a wonderfully strong beech tree.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
The tree stands in the grounds of Christ Church Fulwood, and has been there from the start of the church for at least 150 years. It has taken time to develop, and it has grown with age. www.christchurchfulwood.org
How much more does our faith have to grow as each day comes upon us. We can not be thrown about in the wind, but we have to constantly seek the face of the Lord, no matter how ugly or unpopular following your faith will make you. Having spent an evening celebrating the light of this world – Jesus Christ – I am some what taken aback at many people choosing to dress up in scary and evil costumes. It really makes me uneasy and over the last few days I have felt this build in uneasiness. To children they know, no difference because they simply follow their peers – us. We need to give them an alternative, fancy dress of their favourite heroes and heroines, rather that murderers and zombies. I spent a wonderful evening surrounded by people celebration God in an enjoyable manner that did not highlight the evil in this world – God knows there is enough.
Notice how the psalmist says their heart responds to God, not their mouth. Seeking must come from within. How I seek God and after a time I see Him at work, and then a few weeks later I am praying again, “God show me your face”. I feel like this psalmist in that they have seen God in clear action and then still ask for him to show himself. Clearly we have a responsibility to show the children the light of salvation.
1. The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
This sounds more like the tree. Strong in faith and clear about who they follow.
Dear God on high,
let our faith grow,
and with seasons that give the tree rest and rebirth,
let our own lives have that rest and rebirth.
Let us not count the cost of following you,
but let us proudly stand tall and declare,
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
Amen
365 Exhortations 