A tree was designed by the Creator to be both strong and flexible. We know that trees can stand as high as an apartment building, yet can sustain high winds. Here's a great quote from the Museum of Natural History website:
It (the wood of a tree) has to be stiff, so that trees do not droop under their own weight; it has to be strong, so that the sheer force of the wind does not snap the trunk and branches; it has to be tough, so that when the tree gets damaged it does not shatter; finally it has to be light, so that it does not buckle under its own weight. No manufactured material could do all of these things: plastics are not stiff enough; bricks are too weak; glass is too brittle; steel is too heavy. Weight for weight, wood has probably the best engineering properties of any material.
Hurricane Isabel did knock down some large trees in our back yard, but the amazing thing to me is that most trees withstand tremendous winds without breaking. You probably have watched during storms and seen how far they can sway and still survive. Of course, a dead tree or branch is brittle and will snap under much weight or when blown hard and ultimately it will collapse under its own weight.
So, we also are designed with tremendous flexibility as the winds blow and the presence of the Lord, in the context of a vital relationship, is the best safeguard against snapping in the winds. Apart from the Lord, people eventually do tend to collapse with life's storms, or eventually, under their own dead weight of sin. Let's keep drawing the water of life through the root systems of our mind, eyes and hearts to provide strength to grow tall and strong...and to maintain flexibility, like the tree.
Ezekiel 17:24 All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. " 'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.' "
Blessings,
Rob Smith
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