WISDOM FOR US ALL TO LIVE BY
I am very grateful to some dear friends in Lake Edward, New B Brunswick, Canada for sending this story which has prompted me to share it with you as a “Heart Talk.” Thanks Dawson and Phoebe Sawler. I believe that it will bring home to you the same lesson that it brought to me. I cannot vouch for the author, or the validity, of this story, but the lesson is clear.
I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose and hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one-ton truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
“Oh that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, those troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again.” “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.” End quote.
Wouldn’t it be nice, and isn’t it a good suggestion, for each of us to have our own “trouble tree”? Anything we can do, any avenue that we may choose to take (as silly as it may seem to others)…if it works for us…is a very good “trouble tree” to have. We really should do everything in our power to keep the problems of the job…of our unsavory encounters with people…outside, away from those who already have their own concerns.
I am reminded of what a colleague said many times during our tenure together in ministry. She said, “this too shall pass,” and I realize that the saying did not originate with her. “Things aren’t as bad as they seem,” is another statement that we have all heard, and, in most cases, it is true.
So, figure out how to create your personal “trouble tree” and learn to hang the troubles of the day there. Do not “dump” them those closest to you who really don’t need to have the extra weight of concern put on them. THINGS HAPPEN! Things also work out when we learn to release them, rolling them off on JESUS…casting all of our care on HIM, for it is true…HE CARES FOR YOU!
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance. We all need a tree!
If you have been blessed, please let me hear from you!
If you need prayer for a person(s) or a situation, please e-mail
it to me. PRAYER WORKS! And, Dr. & Mrs. Jones care!
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