Crooked Branches

If you were to map out your life when you were young, I’m sure you’d have nice even lines going from one point to the next. You know, everything nice and neat, no scribbles or cross-outs. However, for the most part our lives don’t go according to any specific diagram we’ve drawn. Now there are times when we’re ‘on track’ with our goals and pursuits, but other times, there are roads going left/right, in circles, and even crossed through.

It reminds me of our picture for this devotion with the tree and it’s many branches. I’m a tree person. I notice the unique and interesting trees especially leafless trees, and I love to create them on canvas. I find trees with crooked branches most interesting. Something at some point caused the branch or multiple branches to divert from where they planned to go, and over time one or more branches went in another direction.

It is interesting to note that all trees allow their branches grow outward and upward. You’ll see trees and shrubs in heavily dense areas where a few are taller than any other plants, all reaching for the sunlight.

But the tree with the crocked branches, the diverted branches tells me something happened and the branch grew in a different direction. When you think about it, isn’t that how our lives usually go? We’ve mapped out the plan for our lives (at least in our minds) and somewhere along the way, we’ve detoured, turned around and gone a different way, or took a different fork in the road.

Proverbs 16:9, Amplifed Bible, says, “A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life], But the LORD directs his steps and establishes them.”  Another version says that man’s heart plans his ways. We may think of the plans, yet the choices we make come from what is in our hearts.

You may be like the tree with many crooked branches right now. Don’t worry because Jesus is giving life to those branches and will bring them upright to enjoy His blessings in your life. Look up because your redemption and your turn around is coming.