If you've been struggling to receive or understand your spiritual gifts, I have an amazingly simple secret to share. I walked past a maple tree in a botanical garden, and before I even stopped, it said, “I have stories to tell.”
It had been waiting. Not for a more gifted receiver. For me, at this moment, after years of growth I didn't even know was preparing me.
Today I'm going to show you what the earth revealed about why timing and readiness are the real secret to receiving, and what that means for where you are right now.
A tree with stories to tell
Saturday, May 9th, 12:44. Luthy Botanical Gardens in Peoria, Illinois. It's one of those Midwestern spring days when the weather is so absolutely beautiful that it makes you entire life seem perfect. My husband and I were having fun exploring new places, and I was here to gather stories.
Walking on the soft, green grass, with my straw hat shading my eyes, I passed a twisted maple tree. The trunk had rotated as it was growing. As I walked by it, the tree said, “I have stories to tell.”
After meandering through the grounds, I returned to stand facing the tree. Recorder ready to go, I said a prayer, and silently waited.
Five lanky young men appear. They are curious and peering at me and checking me out. They are brothers, and are the guardians of this space.
I don’t usually talk with the guardians, and this time is no different. After assessing me, and determining that I’m not a threat, they wander off.
Your heart leads you to your spiritual gifts
The tree speaks: “You are in a beautiful space and place to receive. This message has been waiting for you for a long time. I was wondering when you would come and pick it up.”
So many questions start running through my head, but what it made me think of is... How can I pick up the signals for the stories to receive? Immediately, the answer came. I listen to my heart and go to the places where my heart wants me to go.
Yes, yes, yes! That’s like the light inside of my heart saying that. Yes, yes, yes! That’s why you came here today.
I receive this short poem:
There are many who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ or understand that He is the way.
And these stories help gather them in and bring them into the true way.
All must start somewhere, you know, it matters not the place.
What is darkness to you is light to others. Sing forth his praises in each space.
Spiritual gifts are used to bring light
The tree continues:
“This is the story that I have to tell for today. Once upon a time in a land long ago, there were many who lived in this space. They were a peace loving people. They did good and they lived in good, and they created good, all of their days."
"They loved their children. They loved their women. They loved their wives and their husbands, and all that were of them. And even all that were not of them that came to visit.”
“One day, the evil came in to destroy, because that is what it does. It thinks that, through destruction, it gains power and wisdom, but what it does not realize is that it simply gains more destruction. Destruction is never the way to the light and to the truth. Destruction only leads to more destruction.”
“If you want to help bring others to the light and bring others to Jesus, you must always share more light. More upbringing, more growth, more moving forward, more progression. In whatever form it is, it is all good, and will all eventually lead to the true path.”
“As you know, right now, the path is not straight and narrow, but it is being made that way. This is why there is yet so much division among your churches, as you noted in your conversation with your friend yesterday. All who enter in at the true gate will find. That is all.”
The tree’s reference to the path not being straight and narrow is from Episode 67. That episode is about the colors we pass through as our spirits progress eternally.
The reference to division among our churches is from Romans 16:17, which reads: Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. (King James Version) That verse got me thinking about how we have so many different Christian churches with different doctrines.
The land is at peace
As we walked among the gardens, I noticed that the animals had very small personal space requirements. The squirrels, rabbits, and even the birds let us get quite close to them without taking off.
The botanical gardens boarder a set of tennis and pickle ball courts, and there’s a huge park on the other side of the courts. Not ready to leave, I slowly make my way to an open patch of grass between the courts and sit on the ground. With the sound of a tennis rally in the background, I talk with the land. She begins:
“Give glory to God and praises to the king. This land is a place of peace and rest. The stories it has to tell are many.”
I see an image of people fighting in a war.
"This land has gone through its trials and tribulations. It has now been converted into a place of beauty and goodness."
“The guardians that you encountered here don’t need any armor, because there is enough goodness that they are not continually having to fight off the evil. It is a beautiful thing when a land comes to this level of light.”
It’s very active in the spirit realm, as I tune in there. I don’t know how to describe all the beings that I’m seeing, but, I’ll just say that I’m aware that there’s a lot of activity here.
“It is a place of rest for those in the spirit realm, just as it is for you in the physical realm. Just like the squirrel, and the bunny, and the birds, don’t run away or fly away when you come near them, because they know that this is a safe place, and they are used to it. So it is in the spirit realm. There are many who come here to gather and to rest.”
Spiritual gifts come in perfect timing
The message I get from these stories is that all things happen at their appointed time. There is a time for all things. We don’t need to stress, force, push, or worry. We only need to continue on with our growth, our progression, and we will become in due time.
The story from the maple tree was waiting a long time, but I don’t think I was ready to receive it yet. It’s not about showing up at a predetermined date. It’s about preparing ourself, step by step and day by day, so that when we do show up somewhere, we are prepared for the experience.
I think of meeting my husband. We were 40 when we got married. If we had met 20 years earlier, I don’t think we would have gotten together. We weren’t ready for each other.
Let’s return to spiritual gifts, and the idea of timing. What is the next step you can take for your gifts? The more light we are, the closer we draw to our Savior, the more prepared we are to receive.
What is one small step he is calling you to do right now?
