Wake Up and Smell the Strawberries
At a writer’s conference in 2015, Ted Dekker (one of my favorite authors) told a story that has stuck with me. This is the story as quoted from his non-fiction/devotional book The Forgotten Way:
There was a woman walking on the path beside the jungle. Suddenly, a tiger jumped out, snarling, and the woman ran, terrified for her life. The tiger gave chase and just as it was about to catch her, she came to a cliff.
Without thinking, she jumped off the cliff and grabbed onto a vine, just beyond the reach of the tiger above. Hoping to escape, she looked down, and there, to her horror, she saw yet another tiger, snarling. There was no escape!
And her predicament was now even worse; two mice—one white and one black—had climbed onto the vine above her and were chewing through it. Now it was only a matter of time before they severed her lifeline, sending her plummeting to the tiger below.
Then the woman took her eyes off the mice and the tigers, closed her eyes, and slowly settled. Doing so, she came to her herself. And when she opened her eyes she saw beautiful, ripe strawberries on the cliff right in front of her.
So she plucked those strawberries and ate them and how sweet they were.
[Quoted from The Forgotten Way, Chapter Nine: “What Defies Earthly Eyes”]
When I first heard the story, as first I was confused. It was over before I knew it.
“What happens next? How does she get out of it?”
Before I could completely miss the story’s meaning, Dekker went on to explain the symbolism. In the parable, all of us are the woman in the story. The first tiger represents the past and the second tiger represents the fears of the future. The mice represent time, the relentless passing of night and day.
In short, death is inevitable. There is no escaping our fate. We are always on the rope between past and future, living just a vine-break away from certain destruction. The future in between present and death is uncertain, but nothing about the future can solve the predicament of the tiger at the bottom of the cliff.
But…we are not in the future yet. If you are reading this, then you are likely still alive. You are still holding on to the rope, and you have a choice to make.
Will you continue to cower in fear at the tigers above and below and stress about the progress of the mice’s continual gnawing…or will you eat the strawberries?
Taste and See
In the Bible, Psalm 34:8 says,
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!”
Not only is God good, but he’s good enough to be tasted, which sounds kind of weird. How does one taste God?
There are many different directions you can take that, but I don’t think this verse is about cannibalism or even communion (or The Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist or whatever your church calls it). No, this verse is about experiencing God.
David, the writer of Psalm 34, wrote this poem while running from King Saul. The poem reflects on his experience of pretending to be crazy to protect himself from being targeted while taking refuge in a foreign country (see 1 Samuel 21).
If you’re familiar with the Bible and have read about the life of King David, then you know about the chaos and complication that plagued him almost nonstop.
You would think David would be annoyed and frustrated by God. You would think his poem would be one of exasperation, not worship. Yet the psalm begins,
“I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.” (Psalm 34:1)
David has come to a place of absolute trust in the Lord. He doesn’t doubt God’s goodness because he’s seen God’s faithfulness and experienced God’s presence with him every step of the way. Instead of blaming God for all of the turmoil in his life, David is able to see how God has led him and protected him through the turmoil.
When you taste and see the goodness of God, you experience His present blessings in the moment and are able to savor his presence, just like the strawberries on the cliff.
“But what good is that?” you may ask. “Eating strawberries does nothing to protect me against the tigers.”
True, but the tigers are inevitable. The past is gone, the future is coming, but the present is here, now. It’s easy to act like worry about the past and future is responsible, but, in truth, all worry and distraction do is waste the strawberries in front of you. And when you do finally fall to the tiger at the bottom, you can find an eternity even sweeter, an everlasting life the scrumptious strawberries only hinted at.
The Application
Why am I sharing this with you? Why am I musing about a random parable from one of my favorite authors?
I like reflecting on this story because sometimes, it’s really hard to eat the strawberries.
Indeed, at the time of writing this, the entire world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and for the past week and into the foreseeable future, me and millions of others are living under a “shelter-in-place” order where we’re supposed to work from home and only leave to do “essential” activities. There are a lot of things I could be worried about right now. My work hours have been negatively affected and next pay check will be substantially smaller.
Yet, here I am at home, being forced to slow down, and I find I can use this time for my benefit. I can cherish my family. I can invest in my spiritual growth. I can recalibrate.
But even now, when it should be easy, I’m finding it difficult to taste the strawberries. Even though God’s blessings are right in front of me, I get distracted by my hopes, dreams, fears, frustrations, and every little item on my to-do list.
But when I reflect on the strawberry story, I’m reminded of a truth that I so easily forget, an unshakeable fact that must be reinforced lest its wisdom slip from me.
That truth? Joy is a choice, contentment doesn’t happen on accident, and gratitude isn’t always automatic. By God’s grace, joy can be cultivated. Choose to be thankful! Choose to see the goodness of God, even when you’re surrounded by other not-good things.
My advice? Or, more accurately, the advice I need to take and practice myself to apply to my own life and habits? Practice a new mindset. Enjoy the strawberries. Revel in the goodness of God!
In a world of variables, God’s faithfulness is the constant. Eating and enjoying the proverbial strawberries is not a denial of the tigers—it simply puts the tigers in context.
The context? God is bigger than the past and future. He holds the answer to all of your problems, whether your problem is as big as COVID-19 or as small as a paper cut.
Because of the gospel of Jesus, God with us, by grace through faith every person can be reconciled to God. It’s not just about going to heaven at death, but more clearly about every separation from God being broken. If you are a Christian, you have His presence, the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Our world is still broken with the effects of sin and corruption, but in the meantime you have the presence of God with you. He is faithful! He does not abandon his children, or any of his creation for that matter.
So, if you’re stressed or worried about the future, or if you’re haunted by the past, or if you’re taunted by your own mortality and the passing of time, you still have a choice.
The strawberries are within our reach. All that’s left is for us to eat and savor in the sweetness.
