I woke up this morning and had one of those trains of thought which I can’t really explain, other than by saying perhaps God was leading me to a specific point of reflection today. That, or I really ought to start drinking my coffee sooner.
I woke up and, still lying in bed, looked out my window. The wind was rustling the leaves in the most beautifully soothing, gentle way. I wanted to watch for a while because I know those babies are gonna be on the ground within the next month or so. So I watched their calming movement until, all of a sudden, the wind totally and completely stopped. Instantly. There was nothing anymore, just entire stillness. It was almost eerie because I had become so used to the movement, and expectant of the continual dance of the branches that the motionless leaves made me wonder what was wrong. As if something was off or something bad was coming just because they had stopped moving. Eventually the wind picked up again and the leaves continued their comforting sway.
I had a lot of thoughts this morning about the moment when those leaves were still. One was that I was absolutely ridiculous for feeling discomfort at the stillness. Still moments are great times for relaxing, for spending peaceful times with the Lord, and for internal growth in ways that cannot happen when all is hustle and bustle. It’s natural that times of stillness permeate our lives and they are often a very good thing.
A second thought I had was related to the fact that scripture often compares the Holy Spirit to the wind. I wonder whether I am being as attentive to the Lord as I was to the leaves this morning. As the leaves moving back and forth are “proof” of the wind, the fruits of the Spirit are “proof” of the Lord’s work in our lives. (Fruits of the Spirit being love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness/generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as we are told in Galatians 5:22-23.) When I am not experiencing those things in my life, when I am not putting my faith into action, do I immediately recognize it the way I recognized when the wind ceased to move the leaves this morning? I wouldn’t have even noticed the wind had I not been looking outside and appreciating the way it was rustling the leaves. It wouldn’t really have registered that the wind had stopped had I not been intentionally watching and admiring the way it moved. I hope we are so engaged in the Lord’s work, in allowing His Spirit to move through us and appreciating his goodness, that we can immediately discern when it is no longer present. When we have taken a turn toward darkness, when we hear or say things that are not true to the nature of our God, when we are acting more for ourselves than for His purposes and for the benefit of others. Can you imagine how much awareness of Him that takes? And how much self-awareness? I want to be more attuned to Him than anything else on this earth.
The third thought I had is the one I really can’t explain as far as how I got there… and it’s actually more of a speculation/imagined scene that came to mind, but it still spoke to me. I was still thinking about those leaves as I was drowsily putting up my hair. All of a sudden, I imagined being in the garden of Eden. I imagined watching the scene unfold where Eve was convinced by the serpent that she should eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I imagined that up until the moment when she plucked the fruit, the wind was moving, rustling the branches. It was gently swaying the leaves, soothingly gracing Adam and Eve with the Lord’s love and presence. Then, right when Eve picked the fruit, the wind stopped. All was still. The wind was not there, but I wonder if she even noticed. I think her eyes were probably so fixed on that fruit that she didn’t even realize the wind had ceased. That she had put God on the back burner. That she was about to commit the first human sin.
(Pause… those were imagined details, just as a reminder.)
It’s easy to think we would not have done what Adam and Eve did. We think that they had it all. They had it so good and yet they chose to do one of the very few things they were told not to do. But I think we underestimate the power of that serpent, both back then and today in our own lives. He is brilliant and he will trick us in ways we don’t even realize.
I look at the serpent’s words in Genesis and one thing especially stands out to me. Here is the part of scripture where Satan, as the serpent, spoke to Eve:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The thing that stands out to me is that the serpent planted seeds of jealousy as a means to divide Eve and the Lord. When Eve’s attention was taken from God and instead placed on one of the very few things He had not given her, she ventured into sin. Jealousy will lead us into sin if we don’t acknowledge its crippling capabilities in our lives. And, take note, the serpent didn’t lie to Eve! He did not use falsehood to convince her to take the wrong action and sin against God! That’s how crafty and deceptive Satan is! Instead, he knew what Eve’s weakness might be. He knew that she would desire to be like God, not necessarily a bad thing – in fact often a good thing, but in a way that the Lord never intended. Satan’s words were true, enticing, and logical. What he said made sense and Eve trusted him. But his motives were wicked and that was evident soon after. Satan loves division and he is especially intent on dividing humans from their true and loving King. From Jesus.
I wonder how often I hear things that sound good, perhaps are even true and have merit, but that are not from a pure place. That are not what God would want me to believe and consider “good” from His perspective. Logical but lacking in true wisdom. Lacking in the deeper Truth and genuineness that often is so hard to see on the surface.
I wonder what moments in my own life are like the one when the wind stopped moving those leaves this morning. When it was absent. I wonder what moments are stagnant vs. the moments that allow the Lord to truly and gracefully shape my words and actions. I wonder what my weaknesses are that Satan enjoys using against me in the most deviously twisted ways. Our best protection and means of being immune to his wiles is Jesus. He did not give into temptation and trickery because He knew His Father on such a deep level. I hope to get better at that, too. At being so in tune with my Maker that I can better discern what is of Him and what is not as I try to live my life increasingly more for Him.
Just the thoughts rustling in my mind this morning, as the leaves rustled in the tree outside my window.
Ephesians 6:11, HLC
sacred strokes 