It’s still time to rake, pile, and dispose of tree leaves and I’ve been hearing the noisy grumblings of people without trees complaining about having to pick up leaves of their neighbors.
“It’s not fair!”
Sometimes, we have to take another look at these kinds of problems. Did the neighbor intentionally mean to put their tree’s leaves in the neighbors’ yards? Not likely. Yet we still can feel like it is their fault and should bear the responsibility.
The truth is, we all get to enjoy the trees. They are a gift in the spring and summer, a shelter for God’s little creatures, and a joyful reminder that each of us go through seasons in our lives that demand change. When leaves from trees (metaphor for problems in life) land in our yard, we tend to want to feel offended, treated unfairly, and may even harbor hidden resentment towards our neighbors. Let these moments of unexpected work that comes to us be reminders of our need to worship God through service.
We all bear the problems in this world and it is desirable that we share each other’s burdens and help our neighbors. Can you imagine having even one tree and being responsible for every leaf that blows from it in the fall season? Yikes! What about no kids and your neighbor has 10?
And like our trees, we all share the burden of each others’ children, pets, leaves, cars, trash that gets away, and a myriad of other problems that can result from them. Perhaps we can all learn to view these unexpected opportunities as acts of service unto God, refrain from offense, and do all the service we can for each other so we teach ourselves and others what love means.
Love means tolerating the problems or challenges, honoring, being kind, and most importantly, forgiving one another when others miss the mark so that the grace and mercy of God is manifest in our lives. These acts of service to one another and to God do matter and we do indeed matter to God!
Blessings to you this beautiful Sunday! May the glory of the Lord be revealed to you in timely moments of His goodness as we honor Jesus Christ and His perfect act of service with our lives.
You are loved! ❤️
“and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
Mark 10:44-45