The Farmer & The Stump

"No human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love Him" - 1 Corinthians 2:9

I could only imagine what this stump feels...

Day in and day out you look out to an endless sea of beauty. As you look all day and all night you look out and can't help but think about where the beauty of the flowers came from... As you think day in and day out, you joyfully reflect over the fact that you are a part of this unexplainable beauty! You think of ways that you could grow to be like those that surround you and inside you thrive simply by being surrounded by those doing the same! But what consumes most of your thoughts is not the beauty of what's around you... But how greater the beauty of the Farmer must be. Who's tracks you see as a sign of His love and loyalty to His garden... To you! You thrive and thrive and thrive!! And you could only imagine how beautiful you must be since the Farmer seems to only make beautiful things, Your identity is found solely in the Farmer's beauty.

But you get a desire to turn around. You hear noises and know that turning around even for a second would take your eyes off the endless beauty around you... "Maybe beauty could be found without the Farmer" you harmlessly think to yourself. "Maybe I don't need the Farmer" you say out loud... ... you turn around.

Day in and day out you look out to an endless sea of faces. As you look out all day and all night you can't help but look intently into the faces of awe and wonder... but you see something you have never seen before when they look at you as the cars pass. As you see the yellow reflection of the beautiful flowers in their eyes, You see your reflection, You see disgust... You see death.

Your world INSTANTLY turns to gray as you refuse to reflect on the Farmer and the former beauty behind you. You begin to embrace that maybe you aren't a part of the beauty around you, But maybe YOU are the problem And it would be better if you disappeared... After all, there is nothing in you that anyone would desire! "You are DEAD!" you hear inside, "You are DEAD!" you hear inside as you see yourself with no leaves as you look at your reflection in the eyes of people in the cars that pass without a concern for you.

Day in and day out you look inside and say, "I am DEAD!" "I am DEAD!" You know that daily the Farmer comes to water and tend to the flowers You remember even seeing his marks from his tires that traveled to get to the flowers, But you are so convinced inside that the Farmer would just chop you down That you refuse to turn around and cry out for water... Your acknowledgement that you are dead becomes an identity for you, You embrace the fact that you will never be beautiful...

But then the Farmer comes to You... As you see His reflection in the cars approaching, you've already made up your mind: You will embrace the fact that you are dead. Instead of looking toward Him? You will look toward the passing cars.

For a fleeting moment you DESPERATELY look into the eyes of the passing faces in the passing cars and you SEARCH for a glimmer of hope!! "MAYBE I am not dead!" you think to yourself. You begin to question why you have this intense refusal of the Farmer, but as you see your dead reflection in the eyes of who you are looking at you begin to hate the Farmer more and more and more Yelling, "THE FARMER is who did this to me! If ONLY He would have watered me then I wouldn't have died! WHERE was HE when I withered away!? WHERE was He when I died!?"

The hatred grows and grows and you rather stay dead forever then to turn around and cry out to Him... But with every thought, He advances toward you... You look instead to the passing cars who could care less you existed.

The Farmer approaches... And you hear Him speak to you as if he knew what your thoughts were... And He says gently but with authority,

"You asked where I was? I was watering you as you looked toward the beauty of My flowers. I was watering you when you thrived. I was watering you when your identity was found in Me and My Beauty... You died when you turned around."

It's crazy... I never thought about it before, But EVERY time in Scripture that we walk away from God... From The Fall of Man where God called to Adam saying, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9) To Jesus when He was crying out being tortured innocently for us declared, "FATHER FORGIVE THEM! For they know not what they are doing!" (Luke 23:24)

Our Creator comes to us Our Creator comes FOR us.

We are so distracted by the noise of the cars behind us demanding our attention that we loose sight of The Farmer who loves us so much. We fail to see that He gave each one of us a beautiful purpose To reflect His beauty With our lives.

We have all died, May we cry out to Him who joyfully restores His precious creation.

Father, My heart is so heavy for those who do not know you and for those who feel distant from You. I beg You BREAK OUR HEARTS! Take away EVERYTHING that is keeping us from finding our identity in You!

Our emotions are all over the place  and we are DESPERATELY trying to fill a void that ONLY You can fill! Take away the different drugs that we all resort to in attempt to numb the pain... You are faithful to us even when we are faithless, Help us see that your love and faithfulness does NOT depend on what we do or have done, But in whom we have surrendered to. May we surrender to You alone Jesus. For our value is only as much as the extent the Creator goes to possess us.... Father Your Word says we are dead in our sins... (Romans 3:23) May we come ALIVE in surrender alone.

Our worth, Our value...

Is not found in a male, Is not found in a female, Is not found in a friend, Is not found in a wife, Is not found in a husband, Is not found in children, Is not found in success, Is not found in a "like", Is not found in talent,  Is not found in possessions, Is not found in a bottle, Is not found in a laugh, Is not found in words, Is not found in pity, Is not found in lies, Is not found in rebellion, Our value is found In absolute surrender to our Creator who passionately pursues us.

Jesus, please use us... Jesus, please use me.

There is SO much more than this world, SO much more that our heads literally could not even begin to comprehend!! "NO human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9) Help us keep our eyes on You  We are Yours!

Thank You Jesus for dying on our behalf and providing eternal life with You through Your innocent sacrifice!

In our pursuit of You,

May we remember The Farmer...

We are mere stumps Daddy,

But You love us You love us so much...

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5yThwfQUbs&w=560&h=315]