Psalm 1 describes the blessed person as being like a growing tree.
As trees grow … they change.
The 100 baby cedar trees hubby and I planted three years ago have grown. They do not look the same as they did three years ago. They have stretched … they have grown taller (they’ve tripled in height!) … they have added more limbs with lots more green growth. They have gotten bushier.
Growth . equals . change!
The blessed person of Psalm 1 is growing … and changing! Just like the baby cedar trees are stretching, so also the blessed person is stretching … stretching outside of their “comfort zone.”
Just like the baby cedars are gaining height, so also the blessed person is reaching higher … reaching to learn new things.
Just like the baby cedars have been adding more limbs with lots more green growth … to fill-out and look more and more like a mature cedar tree … so also, the blessed person is growing and maturing to look more and more like Jesus!
But stretching outside our “comfort zone” can be really uncomfortable!
Learning new things can be hard! … and challenging! … and difficult!
The “new thing” which I am currently trying to learn is how to split wood for kindling. I am really bad at it. I have been practicing my wood-splitting skills, hidden-away in the woodshed … where no one can see! … where no one can see me mess up and make mistakes.
At first, I couldn’t even get the axe to make contact with the log. (A swing … and a miss!!!)
Then … after a few weeks of practice … I noticed that I was actually landing the axe on the log consistently. Progress!!
This morning I noticed I was actually landing the axe near the spot for which I was aiming. And … two or three times I was able to chop off a sliver of kindling, just like I meant to. Whoo Hoo!! I’m finally starting to get the hang of it.
It takes practice! It takes persistence! And it takes being willing to fail.
It’s embarrassing to fail. Nobody wants to fail.
But failure is a necessary part of growth!
It’s through failure that we learn what doesn’t work … and why it doesn’t work.
It’s through failure that we gain wisdom and insight we never would have otherwise.
It’s through failure that we gain a deeper sense of gratitude!
Failure is an important part of life!
Failure is an integral part of growth!
A blessed person is a person who is continually stretching …
continually learning …
continually growing …
continually changing.
Growth . equals . change.
And also … it’s ok to fail.
