The Sycomore Fig Tree Bruiser – May 2020

In December of this past year, I committed to God to spend a month of daily, public journaling. I agreed in December to the month of April - never knowing I would be writing a series entitled, “HIDDEN” from a place of quarantine.  

The purpose of the daily discipline is more than rehashing thoughts and events on a public platform - to see if I could generate likes or followers. It is more than candidly stringing together colorful words recounting the last twenty-four hours.  It is more than just a personal test of writing endurance…

This is a spiritual discipline that forces my natural eyes and ears to become aware of my world so differently -  that my spiritual heart is forever changed. This discipline gnaws away at any desire to hide, in order that I may find freedom in humility and vulnerability.

This discipline sets into motion the principle found in Revelation 12:11, “They triumphed over [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

This discipline has an audience of One.

So often these days, we are bombarded from every side with media, news, alerts, etc making it difficult to sort out truth from lies.  Many well-meaning friends and family pass along their research and tips - even while we wrestle with opinions and beliefs, preferences, and convictions.

And as the information flows, so can the fears. And sometimes we may feel like an hour-glass - tipped on its side. Time simply stops... And in that moment, if our doubts and fears roar like raging waves, life can take a rapid and vicious downward spiral.

This discipline, then, becomes a defiant daily declaration of my growing FAITH. It looks at the day's events - searches for and declares TRUTH. It grips the hour-glass of defeat and with fierce tenacity - stands it upright - SECURE.

It forces the downward spiral to pause - so that I may consider…

“Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

What is man that you are mindful of him,
human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”   - Psalm 8