Seeing the Forest and the Trees
My husband and I spent the past week camping in northern Minnesota. We enjoyed the beauty of lakes and woods, wildlife and birdsong, warm sunny days and chilly rainy nights. When we were on one of our hikes, the details of the nature around really had my attention. So many kinds of trees. Some beautiful, majestic and tall. Others small, some struggling and some dead and decaying. Such a variety of plants, moss, wildflowers. As we moved along it was easy to almost forget about the grand forest in which we were engulfed. It was hard to see the forest for the trees.
When we returned, since we were still in vacation mode, we decided to take a break from our regular church home and visit the church where my daughter and her family attend and serve. The message was from the book of Ecclesiastes and I couldn’t help but see a connection. Ecclesiastes 6:12 says, “For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?” Sometimes we get stuck in the present and focus on the details of our daily lives without thought of the big picture or the trajectory of our lives. How will we be remembered? What will be our legacies? What is God doing in our lives and in the lives of those around us? Where is He working and how should I be joining Him?
During the closing hymn of the church service, my nine-year-old granddaughter stood next to me and was confidently lifting her sweet voice in song (very perfectly pitched, I will add!). The words were, “Grace, grace, God’s grace…” His grace, indeed. I was moved to tears of deep gratitude for the fact that this sweet girl has already placed her faith in Jesus and has made a public profession of this through baptism. This is the legacy I desire to leave. More than anything, I want my children and grandchildren and their children and grandchildren and so on and so on…to passionately follow Jesus in a way that is life-changing and impacts the Kingdom of God. As some of the lyrics of the song “The Blessing” say:
“May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children, and their children…”
Most of us have fond memories of grandparents. But how many of us have solid memories of great-grandparents? How about great-great-grandparents? I doubt there would be any of us in that category. Friends, we are only three or four generations away from being remembered only by stories that are retold, old photos or written documents. Eventually, we will be completely forgotten, short of official records. So as we navigate through the details of our daily lives, let’s remember that God does care about those details and we should be wise, discerning and prayerful with them. But at the same time, let’s be sure to focus not only on the trees, but also keep in mind the great forest of our lives.
In the end, I guess we really need to see the forest AND the trees. And enjoy the beauty and blessing of them both.
