The rejected tree

 

It lay there, across other trees, its branches looking thick and ready for baubles, presents, lights, the space in the corner of our living room.

But it was not the one. We’d been looking for a Norwegian blue spruce, loving the colour and being willing to buy a smaller tree, knowing that the blue trees stayed beautiful for weeks and matched the room.  There were none in our usual garden centre and we were both short of time.

So the green spruce would have been second choice anyway. Willing to compromise, I stood the tree upright and saw a problem. ‘That won’t do, it’s dead - all the branches on the back are brown.’ We moved on. But other trees were too spindly, too short, too tall, too fat or too expensive. Ken, my other half, was working hard to be patient. We were both getting wet and dispirited.

An employee of the centre appeared, magically emerging from behind a trolley-load of fresh trees which were too small. When we explained the size we wanted she went straight to the bauble-ready tree I had first seen. ‘This is a beautiful tree, she said, I can’t think why no-one has bought it.’

‘Its branches on the other side are dead,’ I said, surprised she hadn’t noticed.

‘No, that’s mud! I told the last people who picked it up and they didn’t believe me - I really should have hosed it down or turned it over in the rain when it was pouring earlier.’

She rubbed her gloves against one of the brown branches and the resulting muddy mess convinced us.

So we brought it home - and left it out in the rain. It didn’t make much difference but we put it up anyway and I wiped off as much wet mud as I could. It wasn’t perfectly clean, but turned in the right direction it looked, and looks, stunning! The photo doesn’t do it justice but I love sitting near it, surrounded by its Christmassy fragrance.

We had nearly overlooked its potential!  It’s only a Christmas tree, so if we had ignored it and found something else it wouldn’t really have mattered. But the near miss made me think. Do we miss the potential in other people? Or even ourselves?  How often do we not write, not complete a project or not follow up on a perhaps God-given idea because we don’t think we are good enough? 

Each one of us is sullied by sin and the dirt and grime of a life not lived fully to God’s glory. Yet God sees our full potential. We can be rescued, be washed clean, adorned with His grace and become crowned in His glory as we give our thoughts, dreams, ideas and whole selves to Him.

Never let a bit of mud, past sin or rejection get in the way of finding your true potential.

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Annie Try writes contemporary Christian fiction which includes healing, mystery and romance. Her latest novel, Red Cabbage Blue, begins just before Christmas and covers an exciting year in the life of a young woman who is fixated on all things blue.

(Instant Apostle, 2019)