Beauty in the Miniscule

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

In the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon, one small tree branch can seem minuscule.

Just as my life can seem futile in the sense populate of the human race.

What can my life accomplish among so many?

How can my life make an impact within he density of the crowd?

And it would be so easy to stay tucked away in a hole, never reaching, never moving.

Yet, how is it with that little one by your side?

How is it with the coworker across the room?

How is it with the roommate on your hall

How is it with the ones surrounding you day to day?

If you quit, who will lead them?

If you let go, who will breathe life to them?

If you walk away, who will speak hope and truth?

That small branch on the side of the canyon might be the resting place for the weary, fluttering butterfly.

That small branch might be just the finishing touch for the next of a feathered friend.

The insignificance we feel might be just the highlighted reel of the one who can’t see tomorrow.

Don’t look out over the sphere and lose your way.

Look right in front of you, beside you and behind and reach.

Be hope. Be light. Be truth. Be life.

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Matthew 13:31-32

Beauty in the Expanse

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Sometimes, it’s hard to capture the true beauty in the vast horizon.

Just as it’s hard to look ahead to see charm when life is uncertain.

And when the days seem like eternity, the elegance of what could be is surely a fog.

But somewhere in depth of the night, the light will come.

Somewhere in the darkness, the tiny glow of embers will spark.

That’s where you’ll find you can breathe again.

That’s where you’ll find hope.

Never stop simply because the next step is unstable.

Never falter simply because it’s the unknown.

Keep searching in the vast domain.

The morning will come again.

And it will illuminate the immensity of your gaze.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

Isaiah 9:2

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in theregion and shadow of death Light has dawned.

Matthew 4:16

Beauty in the Small

/ The WheatandTares

Beauty really does come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It all depends on your perspective and angel.

Viewing a brilliant mountain sunset can be all about the incline or all about the glowing orb in the sky. It can be all about the painted sky.

Or it can be about the tiny patch of flowers at your feet that will be trampled if you take another step.

Viewing an enormous crisis can be all about the chaos of sights and sounds or about the multiple dilemmas that have just been added. It can be all about the loss of time, money and energy.

Or it can be about the tiny hand grasping yours that is desperate for reassurance and comfort.

It all depends upon your vantage point.

So, what do you see?

Where is your focus?

Beauty is all around you if you can only open your eyes to see.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Jeremiah 24:6-7

Beauty in the Hard

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

If you’re growing, there’s going to be pressure.

If you’re moving forward, there’s going to be pressing.

If you have no pressure, no pressing points which have become uncomfortable, you’re probably not developing.

Just as a flower has to break through the seed and push up through the ground, when you are going to bring about change, there has to be a breaking, a crushing, and finally, a breakthrough.

So, if life is heating up, and you’re feeling the weight of responsibilities and decision making deepening around you, stand strong and walk proud.

Not in conceit or arrogance. Only in humility and respect can you truly survive.

But if you’ll rise to the occasion, grasp the reigns of opportunity and ride it to probability, you can thrive under the constraints.

You can succeed under the strain.

And when you do, not only will the blooms be beautiful, but the impact on those around will be spectacular, too.

My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Silly Saturday

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Funny Friday

/ The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

Funny Friday

/ The WheatandTares

Into the Dark or Into the Light

/ The WheatandTares

Into the dark or into the light

Where are you walking?

Are you leading or are you following?

And who is with you?

It takes only one step to change directions.

It takes only one turn to alter destinations.

Into the dark or into the light

Which way will you travel?

Where will you land?

Make your choice

But choose wisely.

For all decisions have their consequences.

But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Proverbs 4:18-19

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Above all, Find Peace

/ The WheatandTares

Find the place where your soul can find rest.

Take a stroll along the stream.

Hike to the summit.

Crawl around in the cave.

Bike along the coast.

Sit beside the rushing waterfall.

Where doesn’t matter so long as your soul can breathe.

Too often, we simply push through the hard and forget to let the dust settle.

If your soul can find a calm, it won’t matter if the storms brew, the winds howl, and the chaos rages.

Where the tranquility lies deep, stability will find its level, and grace will thrive.

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

Take Courage

/ The WheatandTares

So many live out their lives in fear. Reacting to failure. Reacting to pain. Reacting to violence. Reacting to disastrous times.

No precept. No plans. No purpose.

Only reaction upon reaction to circumstance, feelings and desire.

Not enough live their lives by sheer courage. Having courage is choosing to be equipped. Choosing to be intentional. Choosing to be in the moment. Choosing to make the right choices regardless of common ground.

Know preparation. Know purpose. Know peace.

Choosing to respond or not to respond. Speak or not to speak. But always thinking. Always alert. Always deliberate of the choice.

That’s courage.

It’s not having all confidence or even all knowledge. It’s never about being the strongest or having the most.

Courage is the choice to do right and to be right no matter who stands against you. No matter who discourages. No matter who disagrees.

Have courage today. Be different. Make a difference.

And you can change the world.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

John 1:9

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31