OnFire #338 Just Move the Beam

OnFire Encouragement Letter

OnFire #338 Just Move the Beam

Jan and I are singing in a singing Christmas tree. The set-up is pretty elaborate. At the core of the tree is sturdy steel piping. Around this structure there are the walkways and then finally the frames upon which the greenery is hung. On the very top is a regular tree with lights.

We had a few moments of laughter during the set-up when the top was placed. It was clearly evident that it was not straight as the structure was directly under a large, open wood beam. If everything lined up, the centre of the top should have met the centre of the beam, but it didn’t. 

Our first inclination was simply to leave it as it was – perhaps no one would notice!? But then one of the women walked in and proved us wrong. It was so obviously not straight that it would be a distraction.

Someone suggested, “Let’s just move the beam!” It was so ridiculous as to be funny. The simple solution was to adjust the tree.

As in the tree, so in life. Instead of simply admitting we are wrong at times, we adopt the attitude that everyone and everything else is wrong.  I’m right. Let the world change to accommodate me.

We even do this to God. We might read a clear passage of scripture and think, “That can’t mean what it says,” and we look for loopholes and justifications because it doesn’t occur to us that we might be wrong. By all means we should investigate fully in order to understand scripture. But to think that God is going to change for me is laughable, like thinking about moving the beam to make the tree look straight.

No one likes to change, but this is where we need to trust that God knows what he is doing, that His character is based in self-sacrificing love, that He really has our best in mind, that we can trust Him that He really is the standard for upright.

Evidence of God’s character is at the heart of Christmas. Jesus came as one of us, to live and die, for us, so that we can have a relationship with God. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas. May you know the joy of Jesus Christ in this season and throughout the year.

Troy

OnFire is a letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis.  Married  to Jan, Troy is a chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces, and has more than 20 years of pastoral experience. This letter published Dec 12, 2015.  *New International Version. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com