Dead limbs are tree baggage that a good thunderstorm removes, whether we like it our not.
We have a lot of hardwood trees in our yard, front and back. Whenever a strong thunderstorm blows through, my family spends a fair amount of time picking up dead limbs. It can be an annoying task when it’s hot outside and I’m concerned about snakes lurking around the limbs. But, it’s the price we pay for all of our fabulous trees. We love the trees, so we deal with the sticks and limbs.
The last time I was picking up limbs, I really studied some of them. Many had a fungus on them. They were already dead. The tree no longer needed them for nourishment. They weren’t doing anything to support the tree. They were simply dead weight. They needed to be removed. Isn’t it interesting how nature works that way? Nature has a way of removing what is no longer needed.
As I was thinking about those limbs, I began to think about what happens in our own lives when strong storms blow through. We too, have a way of shedding excess baggage, like those tree limbs.
Think about it. When adversity strikes, things like cancer, job loss or relationship issues, the things that matter come into sharper focus. The things that don’t, drop away.
Sometimes those storms give us a huge wake up call. How many of the things that have we have agreed to help with or be involved with actually take time away from our families? How many things that we agree to be a part of, take time away from our relationship with God? Do we feel the need to be in constant motion to be valuable? Do we make time to feed our emotional and spiritual selves?
If financial storms blow through, we might realize that we didn’t actually need three hundred cable channels in HD. We might find that meals at home with our families are quite fulfilling. We might find that we have closets full of clothes already and that shopping is a unnecessary expense.
We all carry around unnecessary baggage, things that keep us extraordinarily busy and distracted for no truly good reason. That’s our nature. That’s the nature of the society we live in.
But, when a storm blows through, and one eventually will, we are often able to drop a lot of the extra stuff that we didn’t need in the first place. When the storm eventually passes, and it will, we will find ourselves lighter and able to embrace the people and things that truly matter.
The challenge is to not pick it all back up when the skies are blue again. The challenge is to ask God for guidance and leave ourselves some room to breathe and just be. We can’t hear God when we are never still. When we clear out some of that baggage we can be still.
When we become God focused, and the next storm blows through, the clean up is minimal because we are ready. Do you need to do any trimming today?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂