Just outside of our front porch stands a majestic redwood tree. It rises into the sky like Jack’s beanstalk, above the oaks and pines that dot the landscape. It is weathered and a little scraggly but shoots straight up in the gorgeous July sky. Everything around it pales in comparison and the hummingbirds dance through the needles and branches of the tree with joy and gusto. There is a natural spring next to us that the big tree has tapped into and has dug it’s roots deep. Psalm 1:1,2 says ” His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on it he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of living water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does, prospers.”
God often uses examples in nature to give us a spiritual lesson. Every time I see that tree and the spring, I am reminded of His promise. We can be outwardly prosperous with material possessions, a good job, fancy vacations but to truly prosper on the inside where it matters the most, we must tap into the source of life. John Steinbeck wrote about the redwood, “The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor their color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”
Steinbeck is a great writer and these words are breathtaking and romantic but I would rather focus on the One who created the tree rather than the tree itself. The creator is often overshadowed by the creation. That which is beautiful, whether it be a radiant sunset, a multi colored tropical bird or a gigantic redwood tree inspire awe and wonder in us. We were made that way, eternity is in our hearts and we long for it. I completely enjoy those things but understand the magnificence of He who called it into being is much greater. When we behold Him in His creation then awe and wonder can live in our hearts peacefully, purely and with true pleasure. Let us tap into that well that never runs dry and we truly will prosper, in ways that we never imagined.
by Lon Kuykendall
