“That winter, the sight of a bare tree started him thinking of how it would soon regain its flowers and fruit. That image of the leafless branches never left him and actually gave him a powerful vision of God’s power and providence.” – Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
.What was it about a tree regaining its flowers and fruit that could be so profound that it would change a man’s life forever and impact thousands after his death through his writings? What came to mind was the simplicity of the transformation of a tree. Then, as I gave it more thought, I began to see the profound lesson to be learned.
Let me give it a try to explain what I saw.
A tree originally starts out as a seedling from its parent. Trees produce trees, you know! The seedling requires watering and nutrients to grow. As the tree grows, it begins as a small thin fragile stick looking plant. It has yet to produce fruit nor flower.
Seasons changed, and they had little effect as the tree was not ready to produce. As the tree grew, the trunk went from a stick to larger in diameter. The trunk was now able to store more nutrients to begin producing small flowers and fruit.
Once again, the seasons changed but this time, the tree had something to lose. Those flowers and fruits that took so much energy to be produced were now gone. Will they ever return was the question the tree was asking, for it was the first time it had experienced such a loss. The other trees around it would console the young tree letting him know that the season of loss would soon pass, and he would, once again, produce fruit and flowers.
Yet the first season of drought was so long and painful. The young tree tried to produce fruit on its own; too impatient to wait or trust the wisdom given. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing would happen. The young tree exhausted much energy but produced nothing.
As the spring season rolled in, the young tree began to sense something was happening. To his surprise, he was beginning to bud again and new fruits and flowers appeared. Not only that, he saw that he grew in height and stature. His little body now was stronger and had more limbs. That next year, he produced more flowers and fruit than the prior year.
He spent that entire season trying to figure out what happened and came up with hundreds of ideas how he did this on his own. Yet, once again, winter showed up he lost everything. He was sure he had it figured out how he could fight off the season of loss. He was frustrated. The older tress surrounded him again and told him not to worry but to trust that he would once again produce.
This pattern continued with each new season and new growth spurted and with each winter, a greater loss. In the early years, the tree would continue trying to figure out how he could prevent this winter season from coming. Yet, it would still come with some being worse and longer than others. But also, he watched himself grown stronger and larger and produce more than the year before. He began taking note that the winter season would come regardless of what he tried to do to prevent it. He also slowly became more aware of his growth each year and a confidence began to build.
Over time, the tree would continue to grow. He would try less each year to fend off the winters; he even came to expect them. He looked forward to each spring knowing that he would grow stronger and produce even more. Even though the more he produced the more he lost, he was excited he was and he couldn’t wait until the next season came.
With each year that passed, the tree grew in wisdom as what the old trees had taught him made more sense. Then the day came that tree finally got it! He understood that if he would just stop trying to figure out how to prevent winters from coming, knowing it was out of his control, he was able to experience the other seasons even more. He actually found joy as he progressed through each season. He saw that season of loss was the shortest of them all and yet, if he spent all his time worrying, he forgot to enjoy what the other seasons would have to offer.
Slow but sure, the tree grew taller. His trunk now large in diameter, his roots were planted deep into the earth and he was able to support multiple limbs that held strong in the harshest of winters. The tree now was ready to produce another new tree. His seeds were ready. As he would watch these new seeds grow, he was the first to want to share his story with them and reassure them to trust that they too will whether the season of loss. He encouraged them not to waste time on figuring things out that could be better used to enjoy more seasons of growth.
Is it possible we could learn a life-long lesson from looking at a tree?
Maybe if we could slow down long enough to give it some thought, God might just surprise us.
Just a Thought…
