photo by Bobolink
The trees stand tall with their hands lifted high to the Canadian sky. They’re Sugar Maples and it’s time to offer what they have to give. Lines tap the trees and sweetness pours forth. “Would you like to try the sap?” a farmer’s wife asks. We nod and sip from a cup. “It tastes like water,” one of us says. She nods with a smile and tells us of the process it takes to turn sap into syrup.
We tilt our heads and stare at the trees.
Huh.
A few minutes before this farmer’s wife had offered us spoons instead of a cup. That syrup exploded in our mouths with a sweetness that made us gasp in wonder. How could anything taste so good? We assumed it just came out of the tree that way. But now we realized the time, the process, the hard work it took to bring forth the best of what had been there all along.
That night as I drifted to sleep I thought of how our hearts are much like those maples. There’s so much to offer inside. And yet we become impatient. We tell ourselves that we should be able to produce something extraordinary instantly. But that’s not how it works. Instead we have to see the potential, go through the process, be patient with what God wants to bring to the world through us.
We believe this lie: I don’t have anything worthwhile to offer.
We treat what’s in our hearts like we did that sap. “It’s only water. Just ordinary.” we say. Yet within that is the potential for so much more if we can just be committed to letting God have his way with us.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, says the author of Hebrews.
Maple syrup making is an act of faith. When that sap comes form the tree there’s hardly a hint of what it will become.
And yet.
These farmers believe.
They persevere.
They bring out what’s been there all along.
Can we do the same? With ourselves and with each other?
There’s no such thing as an ordinary heart.
What does God want to bring forth from yours?
Whatever it is will be more than you can imagine.
A miracle, like water into wine.
Sweet to the soul.
XOXO
Holley
p.s. I’m sharing this post as part of Overcome the Lie, a new site helping women find the truth their hearts need. Stop by and discover more ways to be encouraged and connect.
