Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God. 1 Chronicles 22:19

At my neighbors’ annual Christmas party, one of the traditions is to look for the pickle hidden in their Christmas tree. Although the “weihnachtsgurke” is said to be a German tradition, there’s some controversy around the legend and where it originated.

The version I like the most is about a German-American soldier who was imprisoned during the Civil War. At the point of starvation, he begged the guard for a pickle before he died. Apparently, that pickle gave him the physical and mental strength to live on.

After searching and searching for that darned pickle at Mike and Ruth’s house, we finally had to give up and move on. The funny thing is, Ruth just texted. When they took their tree down, lo and behold, they found the pickle! It was tucked in the way back, up against the window. It only became visible when they took all the other decorations off and pulled the tree out.

As we start 2024, that story can be a great template for how to approach the new year. 

I’m sure we all had things that we were seeking in 2023. But no matter how hard we looked, we just couldn’t find them: a new job, better parenting techniques, a healthier lifestyle, new relationships, solutions to the slew of problems we faced, etc. After a while, it seemed we had no choice but to give up and move on.

Yet, like that pickle, those opportunities were still there because God is always with us, always working for our good. Sometimes, it takes dismantling things to discover them in hidden places.

Just like it took my neighbors pulling that tree out from the wall and turning it around to find the pickle, things happen in our lives that feel like they’re turning us upside down. But upon closer inspection, our new perspective helps us see that God has tucked what we seek in places we just didn’t know to look.

Questions for Reflection:
  *What did I struggle with in 2023?
  *How can I approach 2024 differently so I either dismantle what wasn’t working, or use a new perspective to find what I’m looking for?