Like A Tree...Strong through the Storm
Meg Chaney
Hi friend, have you listened in on my Podcast yet? The text below is the written version of my Like A Tree Summer Podcast Series. I’d love for you to give me a listen here.
The trees around our house have two different choices in a storm. The big oak trees, reinforced from years of solid growth, remain strong, even when heavy winds beat against them. The spindly pines are more apt to snap. They just don’t have the same strength inside. Our one dead tree on our side property is even worse off. It stands there with no new summer growth, and I often wonder just what storm will send it sailing down. It’s the first place I look when the storm subsides. I already know that it’s weak. It’s dead. It has no growth within. It’s slowly deteriorating, until, someday, it will fall completely over, and start to decompose into the earth around it.
We really should have it cut down.
But still, we haven’t addressed the known issue. Still we let it stand there.
But we know it’s coming.
Psalm 1 gives us a contrast between the righteous and wicked. It tells us just how God will look over both.
“The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.”
The way of the wicked will lead to ruin. Their roots are no longer sunk deep. They don’t have the Lord living within them, strengthening them and producing good fruit. They won’t last.
But there’s no use pointing fingers. We all have areas of our lives that we know need pruned out. We see the warning signs, just like when I hear the rumble of thunder up above my house, the rain begins to fall, and I once again look at at that tree by the side of our house. I know it’s dead. I know it’s inside is no more. I know it’s a lost cause.
We see the warning signs in our own lives.
We know the things that need to change.
And we have the promise that God will change those things in our lives. We are never past the grace of God. He’s always there, ready to change, and revive what was seemingly dead.
There’s no chance for that tree, but there’s a beautiful chance for revival in those around us. They can be made new again. Why would we not share such a precious message with them?
Consider the Israelites.
The Israelites had prospered in their new land, but refused to acknowledge God’s hand in it all. They denied His provision again and again. And so, He sent them into captivity. Through this process, He had many prophets, who reminded the Israelites time and again of how the Lord was always ready and willing to take them back. Consider Hosea 14:
“Israel, return to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled in your sin. Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: ‘Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips.’”
But listen to this promise that follows. I think it’s a beautiful one to read at the end of a devotional series on Trees. We serve a God that wants to prune us, wants to take care of the dead so that new life can grow. We serve a God who truly wants to see our roots sink deep in all that is right and true.
“I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His new branches will spread, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon. The people will return and live beneath his shade. They will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim, why should I have anything more to do with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing pine tree; your fruit comes from Me. Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”
He has such great things in store for us! He wants us to flourish in this life. I think that’s my favorite take away from these verses. The LORD wants so much good for our lives. Let’s sink our roots deep, lean into Him, and flourish in exactly the place the Lord has placed us today. He has good fruit, that He’s ready and willing to grow in our lives. We’re in that place for a reason, be it easy or hard. Let’s give Him all the praise!
The ways of the Lord are right ,and glorious and true.
Grow in Him. Like A Tree.