Smol tok nomo |
Smol tok nomo |
Yesterday I went on a walk beside the ocean. We had a cyclone nearby and it caused the ocean to rise and come further upon land leaving evidence of the storm. There was sand, seaweed, and coconuts all washed up on my once clear path. Something in particular caught my eye, a tree whose roots were once only visible at the top, were now exposed as the land around it had washed away showing deep majestically spread out roots. I immediately begin to think of how my husband had told me that these trees were planted as a means to keep the ocean from erroding away at the island and their roots stood as a defense. How could this one tree, even as magnificent as it was, stand against the seemingly infinite power of the ocean?
It was easy to correlate how intricately God has interwined his creation with spiritual application. I begin to view these trees as “front line Christians” those who have answered the call to go a little deeper. No, not “up in front of people Christians” in case my wording confused you, I am speaking of the work that is unseen by man and visible only to God. Those who recognize the need to position themselves in such a way to grow deep roots to battle the spiritual forces at work in our world. I wonder if this tree ever thought about what it would be like in the forrest where things were calm and peacful, or if it knew that its creator had placed it carefully in direct line of the oceans wrath so it could serve out its purpose completely? I wonder if sometimes the tree, like Elijah when he claimed he was the only one left who had not bowed to Baal, felt as if he was alone when the ocean begin to tear away at his surroundings until all that stood was his roots? Not fully realizing other trees were in place all around, maybe not as many as the trees in the orchards, or valleys, or forrests but still, he was not alone as he stood against the tide. You see we are called to be like that tree. Our roots must grow deep in Christ. As Christians we often must absorb pain without retaliation, we must feel the burden of so many turning from truth to a Gospel that allows us to decide how much we will or will not surrender to God. In a world where we no longer look to God, but every man lifts himself up in pride, and deception runs wild and free like waves crashing against truth, if we are to stand with our roots going deep in Christ we must be willing at times for every single ounce of our rights, our wants, and our desires to be washed away. Our flesh may fight it as we are ripped away piece by piece but in this storm we can choose to fall down or grow our roots even deeper until nothing is left to be seen but unending roots in Christ. God is calling us to a hidden work of prayer, fasting, forgiving, absorbing, loving when no one but He can see our sacrifice. Our roots in Him take the ragging blows of the ocean again and again as we minister to others at the cost of our own lives. Roots. Like a tree planted by the waters, as Christ said, it will not be moved. standing absorbing continuing to grow deeper in Christ. Seemingly insignificant, we join in the suffering with Christ as we endure for the sake of the gospel until one day the ocean will be no more. On this day we will meet those we were used by God to stand in front of the crashing waves so that they too could reside with us in that place where every tear will be wiped away. We will fully realize the purpose and the honor of what we were called to. All of our unseen, insignificant work will be rewarded and we will be present before the Lord as sons and daughters of God. What great thing did we do while here below to deserve such an honor? We simply continued to stand - rooted in Christ - without righteousness of our own as each part of us dissolved and gave way to the only righteous and powerful one. The tree could look at the forrest and wonder if God made a mistake placing him in front of a furious ocean without the ease of ignorance to its possible harm that is found in the forrest. The tree could embrace its call and the beauty found in the strength it gains as it continues to stand allowing its roots to grow deep and wide. While neither a blissful or peacful exsistence, it is one of pure purpose as it trusts the one who planted Him did not make a mistake. I will never know the story behind the tree I saw yesterday, but I know what kind of tree I would like to be. land leaving evidence of the storm. There was sand, seaweed, and coconuts all washed up on my once clear path. Something in particular caught my eye, a tree whose roots were once only visible at the top, were now exposed as the land around it had washed away showing deep majesticly spread out roots. I immediately begin to think of how my husband had told me that these trees were planted as a means to keep the ocean from erroding away at the island and their roots stood as a defense. How could this one tree, even as magnificent as it was, stand against the seemingly infinite power of the ocean? I couldnt help but correlate how intricately God has interwined his creation with spiritual application. I begin to view these trees as “front line Christians” those who have answered the call to go a little deeper. No, not “up in front of people Christians” in case my wording confused you, I am speaking of the work that is unseen by man and visible only to God. Those who recognize the need to position themselves in such a way to grow deep roots to battle the spiritual forces at work in our world. I wonder if this tree ever thought about what it would be like in the forrest where things were calm and peacful, or if it knew that its creator had placed it carefully in direct line of the oceans wrath so it could serve out its purpose completely? I wonder if sometimes the tree, like Elijah when he claimed he was the only one left who had not bowed to Baal, felt as if he was alone when the ocean begin to tear away at his surroundings until all that stood was his roots? Not fully realizing other trees were in place all around, maybe not as many as the trees in the orchards, or valleys, or forrests but still, he was not alone as he stood against the tide. You see we are called to be like that tree. Our roots must grow deep in Christ. As Christians we often must absorb pain without retaliation, we must feel the burden of so many turning from truth to a Gospel that allows us to decide how much we will or will not surrender to God. In a world where we no longer look to God, but every man lifts himself up in pride and deception runs wild and free like waves crashing against truth, if we are to stand with our roots going deep in Christ we must be willing at times for every single ounce of our rights, our wants, and our desires to be washed away. Our flesh may fight it as we are ripped away piece by piece but in this storm we can choose to fall down or grow our roots even deeper until nothing is left to be seen but deep roots in Christ. God is calling us to a hidden work of prayer, fasting, forgiving, absorbing, loving when no one but He can see our sacrifice. Our roots in Him take the ragging blows of the ocean again and again as we minister to others at the cost of our own lives. Roots. Like a tree planted by the waters, as Christ said, it will not be moved. standing absorbing continuing to grow deeper in Christ. Seemingly insignificant, we join in the suffering with Christ as we endure for the sake of the gospel until one day the ocean will be no more. On that day we will meet those we were used by God to stand in front of the crashing waves so that they too could reside with us in that place where every tear will be wiped away. We will fully realize the purpose and the honor of what we were called to. All of our unseen, insignificant work will be rewarded and we will be present before the Lord as sons and daughters of God. What great thing did we do while here below to deserve such an honor? We simply continued to stand - rooted in Christ - without righteousness of our own as each part of us dissolved and gave way to the only righteous and powerful one. The tree could look at the forrest and wonder if God made a mistake placing him in front of a furious ocean without the ease of ignorance to its possible harm that is found in the forrest. The tree could embrace its call and the beauty found in the strength it gains as it continues to stand allowing its roots to grow deep and wide. While neither a blissful or peacful exsistence, it is one of pure purpose as it trusts the one who planted Him did not make a mistake. I will never know the story behind the tree I saw yesterday, but I know what kind of tree I would like to be.
0 Comments
|
AuthorWife, Mother, Missionary, Teacher, Friend ... just a few of the many titles I gladly wear. Never dreamed this is the journey God would take me on. Archives
July 2022
Categories |