Leaning

I’d like to introduce you to “The leaning tree.”  This tree is huge.  When you look at him, he seems to be leaning towards the side and as your eyes follow his trunk, you see the top reaching for the sky. 

I wonder why he’s shaped the way he is?  There are several possibilities.  Maybe, when he was just a sapling he was in a spot that provided no shelter from the wind.  He may not have been able to remain straight and tall with the wind blowing constantly from one direction. 

Or, possibly he didn’t sprout in good rich soil.  It’s hard to hang on when all you encounter is rock. 

Or he may have been pushed down by another tree.

Or he may have had to grow sideways to find the sun in an area where other trees were blocking it out.

But with the creator’s help he survived.  He’s been growing in this spot among a forest of others for maybe 70 to 100 years.  But I believe that God planned for him to be just what and where he is, because that tree has something to teach – something  the creator wants me to know.  Let’s think about lessons from the tree.

Lesson number one - There will be wind and sometimes it hurts. 

The wind likely blew this tree so hard that he couldn’t stand up under it.  God’s word tells us that, in our growing, there will be trials like the wind that will push us down, but with God’s help we can still grow. 

Job 21:18 (NIV)

How often are they like straw before the wind, . . .

Matthew 7:25 (NIV)

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house . . . .

We’ll finish that scripture later. 

Psalm 34:19 (NIV)

The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord 

delivers him from them all;

Yes, there will be troubles and trials and wind in our lives – but remember the tree survived and so can we.  The scripture says that “The Lord delivers him from them all.”  We can count on that.

And to finish the verse about the house on the rock – the rains came, the winds blew but the house stood firm - because it was built on trust in God.  We will have winds blowing us about, but they don’t need to blow us down – and they won’t, when we depend on our God.

The next lesson is

·       There will be rocks in the way.

My big old tree grows in an area where rock is abundant.  When we built our house here, we had to blast in order to dig the basement foundation.  When I want to plant flowers I have to haul in top soil – consequently we don’t have a very big flower garden.

The scripture tells us that building a house on a rock is a good thing, but it’s very difficult to grow something when the ground is rocky.  Remember the parable of the sower.  The farmer sowed his seeds and some fell on rocky ground and couldn't reach the moisture.    

God tells the tree and He tells us not to be discouraged when all we find is rock.  He says he will never forsake us.

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

The tree doesn’t move around like we do, but God will direct our paths and keep us from being discouraged when it’s hard to reach good soil.

I think this may be a lesson that we all need to learn – there are rocks in the way of our happiness – of our growth.  There always will be, because we live in a rocky land.  Our world is full of obstacles, and just like the tree, we need to continue to reach around them in order to find the truth of God’s love and his plans for us.

Those rocks could be our background, our financial situations, our health or maybe just day to day problems. 

How do we find the water of life in this rocky land? 

Well, we continue to search.  The tendrils on the roots of the tree continue to probe and reach into tiny cracks in the rock, until finally they find the soil. 

They find the way to nourishment by continuing.  At this stage in our lives we sometimes feel that we’re too tired – too old – too anything to learn something (remember the silly thing about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks? – well they are wrong!)  Because God is not old – He’s eternal – but He’s not old.  God is not tired – He’s done everything we could imagine – but He’s not tired.  God is the one who will give us strength and direct our paths as we probe and reach into the cracks of our lives to learn and to grow.

There’s a great song that tells us -  God will make a way, where there seems to be no way.  Do you know it?

Psalm 48:14 (NIV)

For this God. is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.

Ephesians 3:17 (TLB)

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love;  and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is;

Just like the tree we need to drink in the richness of His love and nourishment, and yes, just like the tree we need to find the sun.

That’s lesson number three – reach up to find the sun.

The Son of God is vital to our growing.  He is unchanging.  Every good thing comes from Him. 

James 1:17 (NIV)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Without the sun, trees cannot grow.  Like the soil, the sun is necessary for growth.  I picture God the Father as the soil – that which we are planted in – that which we draw nourishment from – that which sustains us – that which we come from. 

And the sun reminds me that without the Son of God, we would be in darkness, because there is no way we could reach the perfection that is called for - by a Holy God.  Without the Son to pay the price of our salvation, we would be dead in sin. 

The Bible equates the sun with brightness, goodness and life.   In the book of Revelation we read that Christ’s face was like the sun.

Revelation 1:16 (NIV)

. . . . . His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world – the ultimate sun. 

John 8:12 (NIV)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

If trees could talk,

what would they tell

of struggles in their striving?

If trees could talk, then would you hear

your own tales of surviving?

As they explain what pain and want

they felt through sunless years,

would you feel empathy for them

cause you’ve spent time in tears?

And would you hear of God’s provision,

sunshine, soil, and power?

And would you hear of how He’d been

their strength in each dark hour?

Would you

 in them

 see things to learn

about the Father’s ways?

Would you see God through tales of wind

and rocks

and sunny days?

Like the trees, we will have wind and rocks and struggles, and like the trees – with His help, we’ll be able to reach and grow and stay.