Sick Twigs

Photo courtesy of blog.oregonlive.com

I have a wonderful neighbor across the street who loves to garden.  She grows the most beautiful wildflower and herb gardens and has a gorgeous hedge and climbing ivy wall encircling her lawn.  I've often wanted to ask her about a simple truth I recently learned as it relates to living plants.  You see, I've read that when a tree or shrub is diseased in it's roots, it's twigs and outermost leaves usually bear the sign of sickness first.  That truth made a quiet impression upon me as I have recently come to believe that in a spiritual sense, too.  While it is important how we spend large amounts of our time, money, and talents, I've often felt convicted about the ways I spend my time and money in the smallest of ways!  This has puzzled me, so much so, that I have been a little edgy with God about the ways He has convicted me and disciplined me over such "small" issues in my life.  I mean...why does He care?

Let me give you an example from my own life.  Each fall (my FAVORITE season!) I look forward to drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks.  They hit the menu on September 1st, and you can bet that I am one of the first in line to order one!  I did precisely that two years ago, but this time, I was a little taken aback by the amount of money the barista charged me for it--I mean, when did lattes go up to $4.00?!  I paid the money and drank back my latte and thought Yum...this is good.  And in that moment, a still quiet voice inside my heart told me, Be sure to enjoy this...because it will be your last.  What!  Wait just a minute!  Seriously, Lord?  I mean, I understand that we need to tithe and give offerings above that for your Church and your work both locally and abroad.   And, thankfully for my husband's leadership, we do that with a joyful heart.  But why would you care about how I spend $4.00...and whether that $4.00 was spent on a Pumpkin Spice Latte?!  I was seriously miffed.

Photo courtesy of chocolateandcarrots.com

Well, I did enjoy that cup of coffee and I went home and told my husband what the Lord had spoken to my heart that day.  He had a good chuckle, but he and I both knew that my only recourse was to obey. 

So, for the past two years, I have not purchased fancy espresso drinks...instead I buy the $1.98 regular coffee. But the funny thing about this is that since then, I have either received Starbucks gift cards or I've ordered a regular coffee and been made a Pumpkin Spice Latte free of charge when it was tepid!  It has been fun to watch God provide a latte or two for me to enjoy, while I continue to follow Him in obedience and not buy them myself!

The simple truth is that God DOES care about how we spend the smallest amounts of money, time, and talent, and that these SMALL ways in which we serve and obey God really do matter!  So my question for you...for me...for all of us...is how do our TWIGS look?  Not the BIG stuff in our lives--let's save that analysis for a later day.  But I am talking about the SMALL stuff.  Where do your little bits of spending money go?  How do you spend the first few minutes of the day?  What do you reflect upon for those few minutes in the car running errands?  What things do you talk about when you see a friend or a neighbor passing by?  Let's look at those things today and pray and humbly ask God how He feels about these things!  You just might be surprised at how much He cares about the "small" stuff!  For as we've discussed above in the gardening lesson...these "twigs" can tell us a lot about our ROOTS--the things we are grounded and established in and put all our faith and trust in!