multiplication
There is quite a phenomenon going on in our yard right now.
We’ve always had lots of squirrels in South Carolina. But this year…
It all began this summer when we noticed more and more each week. They ran up the oaks, soared from tree to tree. They wrecked our bird feeders and created chaos, tipping over flowers and watering cans as they chased each other around and around the trunks of the Leland Cypresses. They dug in my plants and even chewed off a piece of my birdbath!
Eventually, we discovered that they’d also wreaked havoc on the roof’s ridge vent.
It started with only a few squirrels here and there. But it is obvious that they’ve been multiplying - and this multiplication is now affecting every part of our yard and home.
Multiplication - what is multiplying in your life right now?
I readily admit that in my own life it's not always happening in the areas I’d like.
Here’s the thing about multiplication: it escalates at an alarming rate.
If I have a bad attitude about one small nuisance in my life, that can quickly and exponentially increase until I have a bad attitude in general. If I become frustrated with one project I’m working on, it doesn’t take long for that frustration to spill over into my day - the coffee I spilled, the package arriving late, the appointment running behind. You get the picture.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the remedy for this negative multiplication and am asking God to help me change the cycle.
What if a singular GOOD thing that happened in my day quickly multiplied instead?
Could a small moment of joy or an act of kindness ripple out into my day and spread to those I come in contact with?
Multiplication could become a really great thing.
Of course, I can’t do this on my own. I’ll never change without the help of the Holy Spirit. My own efforts will most certainly fall flat and fail.
But Jesus has given us the Spirit as a gift, dwelling in us, the kind of strength that will help us in every way, to live as God has called us to. He generously multiplies goodness forward, changing the trajectory of the day, the week - the life.
With this God-sized help, I can increasingly live the ever-more beautiful, surrendered, kind and grateful life that He intends.
Thank you, Father.
But about those squirrels…
Today is a GOOD day!
Natalie