Naked

I saw a leaf fall today. The wind didn't blow, the tree didn't move. It just fell. Coincidently I walked in its path and it landed on my chest. I quickly removed it and tossed it to the side. They're shedding their old leaves to prepare for spring--their next  blooming season.

Ever since I can remember I've been obsessed with the way trees look when they're bare. They've always had some strange spell over me. I remember staring as we drove through the city. Looking at every branch, every knot, every loose piece of bark. It all seemed so planned to me. To think, once upon a time they were covered in leaves. Lavished in greens and reds, yellows and oranges. At one point they were a significant source of shade, they provided a place to cool off when the sun was unbearable. But the one thing that fascinates me the most, is how even though they're bare and the frigid cold rests on them day in and day out...their branches never manage to make their way to the ground. Even in the harshest of winters--their branches are still outstretched towards the sky. As if to say-- God, You made me, You sustain me, therefore I praise You.

How quickly we forget that we were made, and are sustained. We think that our moments of extreme anxiety and pain give us an excuse to lower our hands. We think that just because our season has passed or because our winter has come, that our arms need not be outstretched. It is then when we are tested and tried. It's when our branches are exposed that our true form can be seen. Why is it that when we've lost everything the storm comes? You tell yourself "but God I've put so much time and effort, I've worked so hard.." Remember Job? He was a bare tree. Everything was stripped away from him. He had no family, no home, no food, not even his health. Even He understood the importance of maintaining his worship. He said "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart." Job knew he came into this world with nothing, and he will leave with nothing. So why do we cease to worship when our leaves have been shed, when we are bare? That is the perfect time. That is when we can stretch out our arms uninhibited and say--God, You made me, You sustain me, therefore I WILL praise You.