Rocks, Grass and Sticks

Yesterday evening I was playing with the kids in the yard.  I picked a blade of grass and gave it a funny voice as I pretended it was a little person.  Pretty soon Seth picked up a piece of grass and started talking to my piece of grass.  Soon sticks and rocks also had voices and personalities of their own.  Now, Anna, was much too sophisticated for the child-like antics of her Dad and younger brother, so she took her share of grass, sticks and rocks and began to turn them into artistic expressions on the driveway. 

Now, it is not like my kids don’t have other things with which to play.  They have a trampoline, too many toys and even a couple of video games.  But last night we played with rocks, sticks and blades of grass.  Seth laughed until I thought he’d have an accident and Anna blew me away with how she took such simple things and turned them into recognizable art.  And God knew how much I needed that moment. 

I would imagine you have discovered this for yourself as well…ever since I have become an adult it sure does seem like life has a way of getting complicated.  Relationships easily get complicated.  Work became a curse after the fall of Adam and Eve and so it is no surprise that it gets complicated.  Decisions that need to be made can become very complicated. One might think that preaching the gospel and pastoring a church in living out the gospel should be simple, but friends, trust me even that gets complicated at times. 

Just when life is about to become so complicated that I start to feel overwhelmed, I have found the Father in heaven has a way of reminding me that in Him I have permission to simplify.  Jesus said look at the flowers of the field…look at the birds of the air…They do not worry and fret…why?  Because they do not make life more complicated than it need be.  Jesus says the key that unlocks the door to simplification is, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”  It does not mean I will get everything I want—it is that very desire that makes life complicated.  Rather he promises I will gain everything that matters.  And most of the time what matters most is not what I want, but what I need.  And what I need is not complicated.  It is very simple.  I need his kingdom and his righteousness.  And when that is my focus, then life itself becomes amazingly uncomplicated and next thing I know instead of being stressed I am free to laugh until I think I might have an accident and free to see expressions of art in even the most unexpected of places.