“When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, LORD, I will seek.’” Psalm 27:8

Climbing the Tree

I have recently come through a difficult injury, having spent many days in the hospital and facing a very long recovery at home. During the time of severe pain, my brain entered some kind of pea-soup fog where all my thoughts of Jesus (and everything else) were misty, vague, and far away. All I could do each day was deal with physical pain. I was giving up bit by bit, for the steps I had to take seemed too hard; I had no strength to fight to regain what I had lost.

When I returned home to begin my long recovery, I desperately wanted to read my Bible, but my eyes could not focus on the words. When my eyes focused once again, I found I could not understand the words. When I could understand the words again, I couldn’t sense the presence of the Lord. I tried to pray, but I was unfocused. I finally grabbed hold of the word “passion,” and I prayed a very short prayer: “Lord, give me back my passion for You.”

One day when I woke very early in the morning, and not wanting to wake the rest of the family, I put on my headphones and began to listen to the HER ministry Bible study teachings I had not been able to attend. The second one was a teaching from Luke 19 on Zacchaeus, the short-statured man who climbed a tree so he could see Jesus when He passed by.

“And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature” (Luke 19:3). During recovery, I came to Christ as a short-statured person in that I could not see past the looming, daunting future I was facing. I very much wanted to see Jesus; I did not want to miss Him when He came by.

Zacchaeus “ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him” (Luke 19:4). The teacher encouraged us to “Climb and climb and climb that tree until you can see Jesus.” It changed things for me, for though I have known and followed Jesus for over 45 years, I have never been in a place of having to work so hard to “see” Him. With the words of our teacher ringing in my ears, I began to climb my “tree.”

I had prayed for a renewed passion, and suddenly I was desperate to meet with Him again. Passion for Him began to take hold of me. I wanted to hear His whispers again. I wanted His Word to speak to me. I hungered and thirsted for Him. I knew the Holy Spirit was drawing me. I read the Bible slowly, meditating on every sentence until it spoke to my heart. I closed my eyes to pray and sat there until praying words came to my mind, and I spoke them out deliberately, beating back untimely thoughts that could be dealt with later. I was able to attend church again, and I set my mind on worship. The community of other believers lifted my spirits in ways I never expected.

Sometimes it is hard to seek the Lord, but He is waiting for us to do so. He’ll help us when we draw near with a sincere heart, or a broken and contrite heart. Climb the tree!

Father, restore passion for You. Make us alive again for the things that pertain to You and Your kingdom. Amen.