"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)
A single tree does not make a forest. A small group of trees does not make a forest. A forest is a vast, dense sea of trees. A forest is a place you can get lost in. A forest is a place you can get found in. A forest holds untold beauty. A forest holds untold danger. A forest is dark. A forest is light. A forest is awe-inspiring. A forest is intimidating. A forest is full of life. A forest is full of death. Our hearts are like a forest. They are light and dark, life and death, beauty and danger, awe-inspiring and intimidating, a place where we get lost, a place where we are found. Like a forest they are wild and untamed, yet they can be a place of quiet and rest. There are many of us who stay on the fringes of our hearts, not wanting to delve into the vast expanse of dominating trees for fear of getting lost among them. There are a brave few who venture into the depth of the forest of their hearts and abide in all of its wild untamed wonder. There are fewer still who invite the One who made their hearts into their forest, knowing that He will want to tear some of the trees up to make a clearing for His grace. He will want to push some of the trees over to make a bridge for His mercy. He will want to cut some of the trees down to build a refuge from the storms of life. He will want to tap some of the trees and let them pour forth the sap of sorrow. He will want to carve some of the trees into sculptures of remembrance. He will want to let every tree be seen as a stake in the ground that marks the territory that The Tree has forever marked as His. Can you see the forest for the trees? He is after the whole forest of your heart, not the singular trees at its fringes. It is the inner depths of the forest of your heart He wants access to: the light and the dark, the beauty and the danger, the life and the death, the awe-inspiring and the intimidating. He wants access to the places we get lost in our own hearts, so that we can be found in His heart, in the forest of His love... "Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel." (Isaiah 44:23) "I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." (Ezekiel 34:25) "...That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3b)
4 Comments
Meg
7/15/2018 05:48:20 pm
Wonderful forest will have new meaning for me now
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Christian Lempeckski
7/15/2018 06:44:32 pm
Another incredible piece of writing I love the depth that God will chase us down to no the closest and deepest parts of our lives great blog.
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Mary A. Brown
7/16/2018 07:49:51 am
Beautiful piece of writing, Anne! Thank you.
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Betty Hassler
7/16/2018 10:39:06 am
I pray for the courage to let the Spirit explore the depths of my forest and to tear down and build up as needed.
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qUIET IN CHAOSQuiet in Chaos is a blog about nothing, everything, and all things inbetween…it’s a space, an ellipsis, a deep pause. Life can be chaotic, and often needs more moments of quiet…So join me as I share and give through the written word, the place I find my Quiet in Chaos… Archives
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