A God Of The Trees

After having lived in the woods in a tent for about 2 weeks now, trees have a whole new meaning in my life. They protect us from the pouring rain, the blaring sun, and the strong winds that are accustomed to Northeastern Georgia. As I’ve been laying in my tent (my “house” as I like to call it) late at night listening to the sound of the trees rustle and the bugs chirp, it got me thinking about what new things trees can remind me of on a daily basis as I live here these 5 weeks.

 Trees make our lives possible. They provide us with shade, beauty, and many other gifts – like the tires to our car to the aspirin we keep in our houses. They are the backbone of our modern houses, no house in America starts without a wood frame first. They allow us to have fire, one of the most powerful and important things we have been gifted as humans. However, beyond these physical needs that trees provide, they are also a perfect reminder of our spiritual needs as well. 

Trees are mentioned more than any other creation in the Bible, besides people of course. Trees are mentioned on the first page of Genesis and on the last page of Revelation. The first Psalm encourages believers to be like a tree. Every major character and every major theological event has a tree marking the spot. Adam’s first instructions were to “dress and keep” (Genesis 2:15) the trees in Eden.   

“What are these reminders” you may ask, well here you go:

 

Turn Toward The Light

 

Trees will always grow toward their light source, the sun. The word photosynthesis literally means turn towards the light, from the Greek phos (light) and tropos (turning). They need this light in order to survive, it helps them to produce the sugars that they need. They have no life apart from their light source so they have learned to grow towards the light in order to live and grow as much as they can. 

I’m sure all of y’all did this experiment back in elementary school, if not, you did something similar. The way it goes is that you put a fresh plant in a dark room and fresh plant on the window sill. Both plants look the same at first. Then the plant on the window sill began turning its leaves toward the sun.  The one in the dark room became pale, thin, and grew in a confused manner. In the end one withers and parishes and the other thrives and is full of life. 

The same is true for our lives. The last part of John 15:5 says it best: “for apart from me you can do nothing”. Without God in our lives we can do no good, we can’t do anything without the aid and power of God. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12). Jesus is our light, he is where we should turn. Apart from him we can do nothing and we will parish and have eternal death, just like the plant in the closet. However, we can take a note from the trees and turn towards the light which leads to eternal life and a life of fulfillment. 

 

Put Down Roots

 

The second thing that trees need in order to survive is water. Water is just as important as the light is. A tree with light but without water will parish and a tree with water but without light will also parish. The two go hand in hand in order to sustain the life of the tree. 

Psalm 1 is a description of what Godly women and men should look like. They are like “trees planted by rivers of water” and they “meditate” on God’s word day and night. They are constantly thinking about what the Bible reveals to them about God’s will and plan for their lives. In order to do this, we need to study the Word of God with intentionality. 

The deeper our “roots” go in the Bible, the more we’re able to withstand the trials, troubles, and other droughts that come our way. The word of God is the way that we fight our battles, which is the basis for all of the pieces of the armour of God as seen in Ephesians 6:10-18. Healthy, mature trees have roots that travel in all directions seeking water and nutrients from all sources. This being said if a tree is seeking water from an unhealthy source the tree will become sick and parish away from this sickness. 

Before Bibles came in book form, they were attached to scrolls. The handles of these Biblical scrolls were called the etz hayim, Hebrew for tree of life. Proverb 3:18 says that the Bible’s wisdom is a tree of life to those who take hold of it, and that happiness and fulfillment result from knowing this life-giving book.

 

Bring About Fruit

 

An apple tree would be no more special than an oak tree if it didn’t bring about fruit, right? Likewise, we will be no more different than the people of the World if we do not bear good fruit. It is easy for us to put up a shield or a mask and look like a fruit tree. It’s easy for us to pop a cross necklace around our necks and look like a Christian. Jesus said that we will be known by the fruit that we produce. (Matthew 7:16-20) We will be known by being different not by wearing a cross or by going to church. The fruit wear bear from the lives we live is what shows the kind of life we are living. 

This being said we should not only produce visible fruit, we should also produce inward fruit. Inward fruit is the fruit of the holy spirit working in our soul and our mind in order to grow us in the image of God we have been made in. Paul described the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (Galatians 5:22-23). We are Christians are called to bear fruit, just as a tree does.  

 

Think Long Term

 

The lives that we live today are short. No so for trees. Some of the trees we can see today were here around the time that Moses lived. They surpass our life spans and many of the ones we see today will surpass the life span of my grandkids. Ecclesiastes 3:11 reveals that God has given mankind thoughts of eternity, that is, of time both backward and forward endlessly. However, He has not yet given mankind His truth about eternity. Consequently, most of mankind believes that they already have immortality within them! In this way, their false thinking becomes their enemy.

How many times do we make decisions based on the short time our minds can perceive? How different would our world look if we made our choices based on the fact that we are the stewards of the next generation and the world to come? 

Trees have a place in heaven according to the book of Revelation. Revelation 22 describes the tree of life, saying, “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Trees are a great reminder that life is so much bigger than we see it to me at the moment. They have withstood the test of time, lived through history’s greatest moment, and lived through our worst seasons. Trees are more eternal than our minds can comprehend. In comparison to them and their lives, we are just a spec. Their deep roots and long sprawling branches cause us to look to heaven for eternity.

 

The trees that surround us day to day are a gift, they are a sweet reminder from the Lord to point us back to his roots. He uses them day by day in order to share some core values about how he lives. Having come to a better understanding of trees from a biblical perspective, those nights listening to the sounds of the trees and the bugs mean much more. It has changed the way that I look at the trees I see day to day which in turn is enriching my life and my faith here in Georgia. 

Here’s my challenge to y’all: trees exist everywhere in our World so find the meaning they have to you and let them be a constant reminder in your life of God’s goodness and faithfulness to us. Trust me, you’ll see a big change in your life just by a small change of mindset.