Trash Can Hero

There was a guy named Nathanael in biblical times. Not a lot is known about his background or profession, but he did have a friend named Philip. One day his Philip comes by his house and says, "Hey, Nate, why don't you come with me and we will go see this super cool rabbi. He might even be the chosen one and he is from Nazareth. Nathanel says, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Perhaps this meant Nazareth was not the most popular place back then and might have even been known as one of those arm-pit sorts of towns like Barstow, California😅???? Anyhow, despite his misgivings Nathanael still agrees to go. Surprisingly,  when the rabbi  "Jesus" sees Nathanael he acts like they already know each other and he  says,"Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!" Nathanael is stunned and replies, “Whence knowest Thou me?” Nathanael did not remember having met Jesus before, so he was probably shocked when Christ acts like he knows him. Jesus states, “when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.” This was amazing to Natahnael because under a fig tree had been where he cried out to God. It was where he laid his heart bare. Broken and contrite, his heart was like an offering on an altar. He had given his ❤️  up to God. And Jesus saw and KNEW of Nathanael's heart and sacrifice under that fig tree.

This story meant a lot to me this week. 

I was in a funk.

 My mind noise suffocating...."Dang, am I even on any kind of path? Or worse, am I just circling, circling my own tail? "

 Life had just seemed not humdrum, but perhaps meandering? Especially in a Western society where value is most highly placed on the productive, I wondered if my health slow down had put me in the dog house with God???Last week I had such a moment. I had given up my calling because I am sick a lot of the time. I was feeling ultra guilty and wondered, "Man, maybe I am just all used up. Like a worn-out shoe, and maybe God doesn't need me much anymore. I offered a tiny, teeny, really, really small prayer. "Sorry, God. Sorry, I am not always strong, and a lot of times, I am doing not much at all. If there is some small task you need me to do, please let me know!"

So I kept getting ready for work, had to keep resting, and decided to bring the garbage cans into the garage. I normally save this job for my hubby  but felt like doing some small task. While rolling in my stinky, blue containers,  I waved at our neighbor! I also saw a very expensive car being loaded into a travel trailer in front of his house. Suddenly, down the road at lightening speed, a different neighbor's trash can comes barreling towards the expensive car!!! The neighbor was not close enough to intervene in time. The driver of the car didn't see it coming. I alone was in a position to be a trash can hero !!! I almost thought I had a cape on as I swooped in and  saved a very expensive car from a garbage can ding! The neighbor looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both said, "What just happened?" We laughed and I told him I rarely ever, ever put the garbages a way, and he said, "Well, that's God for 'ya! He even saves cars 🚗 from 🗑 garbage cans!"

Then the wind and rain stopped a moment, the clouds parted, and I felt the sun on my head. It was such a tiny, teeny, very small moment, but it was my fig tree moment. God did know me and I was in his line of sight! I call this a "fig tree" moment because it reminds me of Nathanael from the New Testament. God is in the details of our lives!!

A  second understanding of this passage is that “under the fig tree” was an expression. The fig tree was symbolically connected to the coming messianic era (Mic. 4:4, Zec. 3:10, 1 Kgs. 4:25). Philip had gone to Nathanael to tell him he had found the messiah.  Why did he run to tell Nathanael this? Perhaps it was because Nathanael was eagerly awaiting the messiah. When Jesus says he saw him under the fig tree, he is saying that he knows Nathanael has been waiting for the day he would encounter the messiah. Nathanael realizes that Jesus has seen into his innermost longings and takes this as a divine sign . 

So... despite my deafening mind noise, and even if I might not know what path I am on or even if I am just circling my tail, in the end maybe the things I worry about the most are just that-things. 

Cuz if we have a God that cares about garbage cans, cars and even a person named Nathanael under a fig tree...maybe all our paths are more calculated than we know. Maybe some of our

y, teeny very small moments will turn out to be...not small at all. And I know we as humans do wear super- hero capes--- they are just invisible 😅