Flaws and All!

“Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” Luke 3:5-6 NKJV 

 The Cherry trees pictured above are mostly recognized for their soft fragrant blooms. However, what I find most fascinating about these trees is not their short lived blooms but rather their imperfect trunks. Even the limbs that spread out into pink and white canopies grow irregular and seemingly malformed. 

I think their true beauty stems from the fact that their rough and ill-shaped limbs can still produce something so delicate and beautiful.  Only God can take what is rough and crooked and turn it into something magnificent and breathtaking. The transformation of these trees from something sinister looking into what they are now illustrates how our Father can do the same with us. 

You see, I believe that what God does for these trees, He can do on a continual basis for you and me. Even when we have deviated from the proper path, God can still allow us to flourish, bloom and even glorify Him. 

Our twists and turns often take us away from the narrow path that leads to Him. Even our best efforts to be spiritual, church going, or however you choose to commune with God ultimately fall short in developing us into the people we can be. Only God can make us righteous, a blessing to others and develop us into people who look outward instead of inward.   

God uses our “detours” away from Him to define and build our character. And sometimes isn’t always about the choices we make as it is how we react to the twists and turns life throws our way.  

Sometimes we do get where we want to go, just not when or how we expected to get there. Our experiences often become a reference from which we change. Hopefully, we become compassionate. Educated. Humble. Not bitter, mean or hopeless.  

Recognizing our faults and weaknesses makes us wiser because we learn we can’t do it ourselves. We need Him. God is not an accessory in our lives but a vital necessity! 

Only He can make our crooked places straight. Flaws and all, God can use us; we can glorify Him! 

We just have to remember to not let the twists and turns obscure the bigger picture. He does love us. He wants us to flourish, blossom and grow…nearer to Him. Because our God wants the absolute best for us. And that just happens to be Him.  

Though less than perfect, these trees never stop reaching up toward the Heavens. 

And neither should we.