This one has been simmering in my head for a bit so I thought I’d go ahead and share it. A while back in one of my daily readings Jean Fleming wrote that she “views [her] life as a tree. The trunk represents [her] relationship to Christ; the limbs represent areas of God-given responsibilities such as family, job, ministry, and personal development; and the branches represent the activities and opportunities of life.” She goes on the talk about how the activities can multiply to a point where they are more prominent than the trunk. It kind of reminded me of a hedge bush. Even when the bush is trimmed back the leaves are still more prominent than the trunk of the bush. Have you ever seen an old willow oak (or any old oak would probably do…I just prefer willow oaks because they have more leaves)? There is a willow oak in the front yard of my parents’ house and several here at the school. No matter how big, leafy or branched they get my first impression has primarily been “whoa that’s a huge trunk!” Activities and responsibilities are not bad things, we all have special talents that need to be used, but when they dwarf the trunk (i.e. your relationship with Christ), something is terribly wrong.
Here’s another thought for you. A couple of months back I had a snippet of a dream where I saw these huge trees with the centers burned away so there was a hole in the middle of the trunk and all the limbs, branches and twigs. Now if you know anything about botany or woody plants in general, you know that the xylem, which is made up of dead plant cells (and was the part that was burned away), normally carries water to the tops of the plants and gives structural support, and the phloem (the outer ring of the tree just below the bark) is where the nutrients are exchanged between the roots and the trees (i.e. the part that’s actually alive).
I was a little puzzled at first about these trees. If the centers were burned away, then how does the tree stand up and how does the water get to the branches. And then I realized, God doesn’t need or want a dead, imposed structure to give support or to direct water flow to his people. All He needs is an empty vessel so that he can fill it and make it prosper. Don’t try to impose your view of how you think God wants to fill your life and what things that he wants you to do; you’ll stunt your growth because you aren’t depending on Him for life giving water.
“He is the vine and we are the branches….” Well you know what? He’s also the Giver of Life and our Source of Strength. But even more than that, God wants to be in every part of our lives (down to the tiniest twigs), refreshing us and helping form new leaves that will edify the whole forest.
neumatikos 