Stuck

 I pulled into the drive at the house the other day while talking on the phone. I typically park under the car port, but on this day I was driving a different vehicle I typically park  that truck in the grass next to an oak tree. I did not turn sharply enough to avoid the tree so I ventured into a little dip in the ground directly behind where the pulpit used to be in the old sanctuary. The front tires rolled slightly into the dip. When I reversed the truck to back out the wheels began to spin. I was stuck. I gunned the gas hoping to catch traction and get out of the dip. More spinning the tires but no backward momentum. I was definitely stuck. 

Have you been there? Not so much stuck in a vehicle. Stuck in sin. Stuck in past mistakes. Stuck in regrets? Stuck in condemnation?

I wonder how many people around the world live everyday stuck. They are unable to live productive lives because they are stuck in the past. They spend so much time looking over their shoulders at what they have done or not done that they cannot move forward. Stuck spinning the wheels of energy on something that cannot be changed. The past should be just that. The past. Gone. Over and done with. Done. History. Behind. 

We are exhorted in Phil 3:13 to forget what lies behind and to press forward to what lies ahead. Sometimes what we did in the past caused pain to many people. It might even have destroyed some people. We. cannot undo that. All we can do is move forward in faith trusting God to help us in following Him. We do not have to be defined by our past. We do not have to wear a scarlet letter shaming us for our failures. God wills to forgive and to redeem. God desires to restore and renew. You do not have to live your life stuck in the past. 

Do you want to know how I got the truck unstuck that day? I put it in drive and pulled forward then back to reverse several times rocking myself out of the dip. Sometimes the way to get unstuck is to intentionally choose to go forward when the natural thing is to keep going backward. To pull that truck forward meant I was driving deeper into the dip in the ground. It did not feel right. In fact, I thought it would only make matters worse. Yet that is exactly what helped me eventually rock the truck out. 

Today we have a choice. We can keep focusing on our past. We can mourn past sinful choices. We can focus on our failures. Or we can choose today to go forward. To forget the past. To focus on what lies ahead instead of what lies behind. We do not have to spend another day just spinning our wheels in the direction of a past we cannot change. Yesterday is gone. It cannot be recovered or recaptured. Through Jesus, yesterday can be redeemed. It can have redemptive value as we learn lessons to help us navigate life that lies ahead. We do not have to remain stuck. Choose to go forward. 

Time at the Tamarisk

 Genesis 21:33 (NASB)

³³  Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 

For decades Abraham and Sarah lived as nomads. They settled in a place for a while and then at God's direction they moved on. From the time God called them to leave Ur they did not have a permanent dwelling. God blessed them and they became wealthy in flocks and silver. They still had to pull up the tent pegs and pack their belongings to keep moving when God directed them to do so. 

The last two blogs have been about Abraham meeting with God at oak trees. I don't know what it was about those oak trees that made God come and meet with his servant. I am guessing trees held a special place in Abraham's heart. Practically the trees provided shade and relief from the oppressive heat. Spiritually the trees were sacred spots where God encounters occurred. 

Maybe that is why Abraham planted a tamarisk tree. By the mere fact that he planted tree would indicate that the tree had not matured. It would take years for that tree to provide shaded shelter for anyone. That cannot be the reason Abraham planted it. I think he planted that tree because he longed to meet with God as he had done at the oak of Moreh and at the oak of Mamre. 

Abraham called out to God at the tree of tamarisk. The words called out means to cry, invite, and to summon. It was at that planted tree that Abraham frequented to invite God to join him. To summon the Almighty to have audience with Him. He so hungered for more God encounters that he cried out to God. My curiosity is piqued. I wonder about the many divine appointments and communion God and Abraham shared at that little tree. 

I can just imagine Abraham strolling away from the flocks, servants and Sarah with a little tree in one hand and a makeshift shovel in the other hand. He dug into the soil and tenderly planted the tamarisk away from all. This would be his secret place to meet with God. I am sure over the time he resided there that he often stole away to the little tree to commune with God. I imagine a little path formed and the grass died from Abraham walking to the tamarisk tree to keep company with God while forsaking the company of other people. I am sure he unloaded burdens to Yahweh. I also believe he listened for God's voice and waited eagerly for God to appear to him again. 

Thousands of years have passed since then. I wonder about what that tree eventually grew to be. I also am reminded that God desires us to cry out to Him from our secret places. To invite Him to come commune with us. To listen to us, to speak to us, to strengthen us, to guide us, and to instruct us. 

I have been fascinated reading about the devotional habits of many people through history. A common theme is found in most of them. They rose early to meet with God. While others slept, they sauntered from the bed to the secret place. E.M. Bounds rose at 4:00 a.m. for prayer. George Mueller read the word of God incessantly. David Brainerd wrote in his journal about fasting, prayer, and meditation on the word of God. Even Jesus left the disciples early in the morning to go pray to His Father. [Mark 1:35]

My eyes popped open at a usual time this morning. No alarm clock other than the internal one God has placed inside me. It was time to get up and read my Bible and seek God. That is where the inspiration for so many of these articles comes from. God uses my devotions to spark new ideas to write about. 

This little corner off our living room is a tamarisk tree for me. I sit at this little desk with the soft glow of a lamp to illuminate the words of life from the Bible. It is here that I read the pages of sacred scripture and God reveals Himself to me in fresh ways. I try to pass that onto others hoping it may help them in their pilgrimage. Each of needs a tamarisk tree where we meet with God. Where we summon Him to come join us. Where we unload our burdens and seek Him. Those God encounters make each day a new adventure on this journey of faith. I hope you experience God in thrilling ways as you call out to Him from your tamarisk tree.