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Verse:My dear friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the good news. The Roman guards and all the others know that I am here in jail because I serve Christ. Now most of the Lord’s followers have become brave and are fearlessly telling the message. —Philippians 1:12–14, CEV
The Bible study group I attend is focused on the book of Philippians, written by Paul while in a Roman prison. Quite an appropriate book to read while we are in quarantine. Paul points out that God is always with us.
He loves to bring the dead to life and surprise us, showing His hand at work in all things. There is a dead tree in our backyard.
The men we asked to remove it have counseled, “Just leave it. It will eventually fall down in pieces.” A couple of years ago, the top quarter of the tree fell off. But the coolest thing is that the dead tree helped me better understand God as I have struggled to define success. Though many use careers to define their success, I, by human definition, really don’t have a career. Yes, I’ve held jobs in similar areas, and I do see patterns as I assess my current and past positions, but they are not what I would want to define me. I have chosen to focus on my children and my music ministry.
Though neither pays well, the rewards are priceless! Paul wasn’t planning to be in that prison, and twenty years ago, I wasn’t planning most of what has happened in my own life, but God knew. His plan is always good.
I have stayed home, at least part time, with my children for twelve years. I have been part of a music ministry for more than thirteen years, and I have always been outspoken regarding my faith in Jesus Christ. God is using me.
I see it in my children, and I see it in those blessed by the songs that I sing. So, as I look up at the old, dead tree today, I see a woodpecker flying into a hole where she is feeding babies in her nest. Flying frantically back and forth, she is doing what she can to care for her family, harbored by the dead tree. Sometimes we feel small, as if we are not large and successful according to the world’s standards.
Yet God measures us differently and uses the unlikeliest of things —an old dead tree— to remind us that we are successful when we place ourselves in His hands. “If I live, it will be for Christ, and if I die, I will gain even more” (Philippians 1:21, CEV).
Joey Norwood Tolbert