Tree ~ Steadfastness
When i stand beneath the humming umbrage of a forest, my soul is at once quickened and calmed. The green glow invigorates me, and the hush of leaves soothes my mind. Sometimes, when life is busy or fate has been unkind, i hike up into the forest by myself. In the heavy atmosphere, in the air tempered with the damp scent of moss, i am home.
The Bible describes a steadfast human psyche as a tree. Jeremiah 17 warns against an inappropriate dependence on people in circumstances when we must depend only on God. Our dependence on people leaves us feeling dry and empty, "like a shrub in the desert". They cannot satisfy us; they cannot give us what we truly want. We were made for a deep, soulful love, not the fragments of a broken human heart, even if that heart is given wholly and willingly. i still find this concept difficult, being quite a gregarious creature myself. Some of the sweetest times i have experienced in this life have been in the company of good friends. Are we not to find steadfastness in companionship? Yet verse 8 is not a rebuke so much as an encouragement: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD. He is like a tree that is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Am i a tree? Trees have no eyes... how do they see the fruit they bear? Or do they feel it? Do they sense their sugars sapped, their phloem waning with the weight of new life? Or do trees, both deaf and dumb, rely solely on faith that fruit is out there... somewhere...? Or perhaps they are so busy being trees that they've no time to count their fruits. Or maybe they are too focused on trying to not be anxious because a draught is here, and has been for more than a year. For what is a tree after all than a sliver of life, barely clinging on to the deadwood of past years? i want to leave that dead core behind... to forget the past. But what is a body without a skeleton? What is a tree without death? Perhaps you feel dried up in your life; the times of draught are over but it didn’t leave you the same. Perhaps you are in the midst of a draught right now. I would like to encourage you to keep going, not because of your own strength, but because you are rooted in the Living Water that is Christ. With Him we are "like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the year of drought." That river, the Holy Spirit, only grows deeper and richer through the years, regardless of life’s circumstances. And while there may remain something hard and cold deep inside, remember that Christ can use it to make you stronger. One of the names of Our Lord in the Old Testament is “Yahweh Tsid-Kenu”. i have this name tattooed on my back directly over my spine. It reminds me that God makes me stand tall. The word Tsid-Kenu means “righteous”, but it also means to stand tall such as a wooden rod. The hardest, strongest, straightest bit of timber is found at the core of a tree: the dead part. i truly believe that God can use those dead places in our lives to strengthen us and to bring him glory.
The past is not your enemy, it is your ally. We learn from the times of drought, and our wisdom helps us to stand firm today, firmly rooted and established in Christ.
When you walk through the forest and hear the gently rustling leaves, you should stop and listen. You might here them whispering to each other: "Just one more year...one more year... this draught will pass."
The Bible describes a steadfast human psyche as a tree. Jeremiah 17 warns against an inappropriate dependence on people in circumstances when we must depend only on God. Our dependence on people leaves us feeling dry and empty, "like a shrub in the desert". They cannot satisfy us; they cannot give us what we truly want. We were made for a deep, soulful love, not the fragments of a broken human heart, even if that heart is given wholly and willingly. i still find this concept difficult, being quite a gregarious creature myself. Some of the sweetest times i have experienced in this life have been in the company of good friends. Are we not to find steadfastness in companionship? Yet verse 8 is not a rebuke so much as an encouragement: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD. He is like a tree that is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Am i a tree? Trees have no eyes... how do they see the fruit they bear? Or do they feel it? Do they sense their sugars sapped, their phloem waning with the weight of new life? Or do trees, both deaf and dumb, rely solely on faith that fruit is out there... somewhere...? Or perhaps they are so busy being trees that they've no time to count their fruits. Or maybe they are too focused on trying to not be anxious because a draught is here, and has been for more than a year. For what is a tree after all than a sliver of life, barely clinging on to the deadwood of past years? i want to leave that dead core behind... to forget the past. But what is a body without a skeleton? What is a tree without death? Perhaps you feel dried up in your life; the times of draught are over but it didn’t leave you the same. Perhaps you are in the midst of a draught right now. I would like to encourage you to keep going, not because of your own strength, but because you are rooted in the Living Water that is Christ. With Him we are "like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious in the year of drought." That river, the Holy Spirit, only grows deeper and richer through the years, regardless of life’s circumstances. And while there may remain something hard and cold deep inside, remember that Christ can use it to make you stronger. One of the names of Our Lord in the Old Testament is “Yahweh Tsid-Kenu”. i have this name tattooed on my back directly over my spine. It reminds me that God makes me stand tall. The word Tsid-Kenu means “righteous”, but it also means to stand tall such as a wooden rod. The hardest, strongest, straightest bit of timber is found at the core of a tree: the dead part. i truly believe that God can use those dead places in our lives to strengthen us and to bring him glory.
The past is not your enemy, it is your ally. We learn from the times of drought, and our wisdom helps us to stand firm today, firmly rooted and established in Christ.
When you walk through the forest and hear the gently rustling leaves, you should stop and listen. You might here them whispering to each other: "Just one more year...one more year... this draught will pass."
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