When God created the oak tree, He did not expect it to be a rose bush. When He created a squirrel, He did not expect it to be a kangaroo. He has a wild, vivid imagination and when He fashioned each part of creation, moulded it with His fingers, saw it in His mind’s eye, He knew exactly how it should be, how it should grow and evolve, what it would look like in every stage of it’s beautiful life; from beginning in darkness, to pushing into full bloom, to slowly fading into another form, whether it be back to the ground and another life cycle or returning home to Him.
He knew what He created you to be. He knew the characteristics that He gave you, the tenderness, the eye for detail, the want for quiet, the passion and the fire, the energy that struggles to rest. He saw what you would become and His intention for you and so he planted dreams and desires and longings that would carry you there. He knew what He was doing.
There are times that life hits hard, sucker punches that make it difficult to breathe; that throw us off course; that threaten our confidence in who we are, in where we are going, that lead to discord, disorientation, confusion and just sheer pain at times. Times that cloud our vision so that we can no longer see, where we once again struggle in darkness, waiting for new buds to take form. But He is there even still. He is never anxious, confused or thrown off course. He is still, steady, calm in the storm. He grows beautiful things in the darkest of places.
He wants to grow character in us like gold, things like courage, compassion, perseverance, gentleness and wisdom and He uses every moment to do this, if we will allow Him.
But there is a point where circumstances might be causing harm to the integrity of His child, to the actual core of who they are, of who He created them to be. Where circumstances, maybe institutions, are forcing them into a shape that hurts, is harmful. Where the intention of who He created them to be is being lost, where they are starting to lose the form and the shape that they were originally given by Him. Like an oak expected to look and behave like a rose bush. Or a squirrel expected to be a kangaroo.
At this point, He honours His child, His creation, over institutions, systems or established ways of doing things. It may not be popular, it may cause disruption. It requires courage, the ability to see beyond the immediate. Because when He speaks and moves, does what He is wanting to do, life can come again. Resurrection.
Galatians 5:1
Genesis 1
Jeremiah 1:5
Luke 12:7