Last year, my husband decided he wanted to expand his garden. To increase the area receiving direct sunshine, he hired someone to cut down four trees beside our house. This is what all four of them looked like last year. They’re all still out there, taller than I am! But they don’t all look like this anymore. One of them has kept right on growing–maybe not up, but out! I decided to be adventurous and climb on top of it, and show you just how green it is.
Think I’m just posing on something behind the tree? Well, here’s another picture of my pink boots standing on top of the trunk. Getting back down was a whole other matter–there were so many shoots and leaves I couldn’t see my way down!
Instead of just giving up on life, this tree is fighting back with all it’s got! Where is it finding the strength to keep growing even after it was knocked down to its “knees”? These maple trees actually put out more shoots when they’ve been stressed. I think losing your head counts as stress, don’t you?
Have you had times in your life that you felt like a tree whose top was just lopped off? Maybe you’re in the middle of a major pruning season right now. Don’t give up! Dig deep, press in to God, and find the true source of life. He will use these circumstances to bring about His perfect plan, which is bigger than you could possibly see right now. You can trust Him!
I pray for you…asking God…to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called. ~Ephesians 1:16-18
Lauri Hawley 