"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3 ESV).
During my 12th summer I witnessed the beginning of a change in the character of my grandfather’s home. His farm house was surrounded by huge, ancient weeping willows. I believe it was my great grandfather who planted these trees— two in the front yard by the creek and two in the side yard near the mountain spring that flowed past the house. They must have been nearly a hundred years old by the time I came along. They were beautiful, with their gigantic, gnarly trunks punctuated by wart-like growths that provided a kind of ladder for climbing. Their main boughs were as sturdy and large as the trunks of most trees, but the canopy of willowy limbs that showered down from these great branches were as sinewy and limber as new vines. I loved swinging from these dangling limbs, pretending to be Tarzan. Or just laying beneath, watching the breeze blow through the green strands, enjoying the shade. When I thought of Papaw’s house, a vivid picture of his weeping willow trees filled my mind.
That all changed when a great summer thunder storm suddenly blew in. I was watching out the front screen door under Papaw’s porch as the wind caused the willowy limbs to blow like the strands of a woman's hair. Then without warning, a bolt of lightning pierced the air and struck one of the willow trees where its trunk forked. The sound of the lightning’s impact was like an explosion followed by a great crack as the willow’s trunk split in two. I was startled by the sound of the lightning, but I was even more surprised to see half of the mighty willow tree coming towards Papaw’s house as the other half fell across the creek.
After the storm ended, we all went outside to see the damage. I can still remember our amazement when Papaw exclaimed, “Look, this old willer was mostly rotten inside!”
Sure enough, the entire heart of the tree was hollow, eaten out by an army of black, carpenter ants. The mighty trunk was nothing but a honeycomb filled with ant larvae.
Over the next few years, all of the weeping willow trees fell, died, or had to be cut down. Everyone of them eaten out, hollow inside. They were beautiful and majestic on the outside, but for years they had been hollow and rotten on the inside. Just waiting for a storm to come and blow them down.
For years we had focused on the outer beauty of those willow trees, never suspecting the true nature of their inner character. Isn't that the way that most of us think? We evaluate our lives by focusing on our circumstances, our appearance, our outer lives— while ignoring the inner life.
Just about every week I talk to people who say things such as, “I don’t think God cares.” Or “God doesn’t seem to hear my prayers.” When I ask why, they tell me stories about the circumstances of their lives. They tell stories of how sickness, death, divorce, prodical children, or financial ruin have wrecked their lives and yet God doesn't seem to care.
As all of us are prone to do, perhaps these hurting folks are looking for God in the wrong places. While they're frantically looking for God on the outside, He's at work on the inside. That’s where He does His best work.
Sure, God is concerned about our circumstances. He promises to meet our every need. Yet, we tend to place more importance on the visible things than God intended. His main focus is on the eternal, not the temporal. He cares more for our character than our comfort. This new character of life is now "hidden" in Christ, but one day it will be fully revealed. So, be encouraged. God is at work conforming us to the character of Christ.
And character is an inside job.
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