From An Older Tree To A Younger Tree Pt 2 – Joy Cometh!

So, winter comes and the young tree begins to lament. It is so sad; feels really bare and alone. No one admires it anymore and the voice of children running around playing under it is gone. Nobody needed it for shade anymore because it had none to provide; it could barely even reach sunlight and all it could see was whiteness, quiet and felt nothing but aloneness. It wondered if it was the only one who felt that way and soon enough it says to the old tree, ‘how long is this going to last for and the old tree replies “it’s only for as long as it needs to.” The young tree was puzzled. It couldn’t understand why the old tree was then so calm when it knew nothing itself. So all it knew was that it is only for a season? Why then was it so calm? The young tree thought on that answer for a while and spoke again ‘don’t you care how long it last? How do you even know that there is an end to this? The old tree replies – “I have seen many seasons like this and lived long enough to know that it ends.” The young tree then ask, ‘is that your only assurance?’ and the old tree nods acknowledging that he had no stronger word of comfort but the young tree would just have to wait and see that it passes. He bowed his head sorrowfully for a while and wondered why it is so hard to just believe yet God ask that of us even when everything is contrary.

Psalm 30: 5b “weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

So the young tree spoke again; it needed to know if it would be this boring through it all or if there was some activity one could engage in especially since no one could tell the length of the season. It didn’t want to look dumb and silly through this time. Yet the old tree counselled that it is best to be as quiet as you could possibly be at times like this. The older tree understood the pain of the younger tree as it spoke, it knew the things the younger tree thought but was ashamed to say. It knew the pain of people who sought them for shade going past like they didn’t exist anymore, just rushing past them. They heard conversations of these people who once sat under them for shelter as they told one another how bare and ugly the trees looked in winter. It knew the pain of hearing them talk like as if one’s days of glory are over but the old tree also knew better. It knew that this is the circle of life with God. It wished it could tell the younger tree that there is nothing to prove at this point because the maker already made you bare albeit for a purpose. There is nothing to hide anymore and also that there would always be those wise people who still had respect for the trees and admired the trees covered in white or even bare. They saw the beauty of being naked and unashamed. Those are the very few that care to admire the trees so much they stop to take pictures but they are few. It then said to the younger tree – you need all your energy to stand in these times as God is working to establish you and make your roots grow much deeper. They grow deeper to get water and other nutrients to survive but then you get stronger and survive easily in summer because your roots are really deep. There are always good sides to every pain, he told him, it all depends on what you would rather be focused.

Isaiah 37: 31 “And the remnant that has survived of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.”

The old tree understood what the young tree must be going through. It remembered its’ first winter and how it almost gave up. It remembered how frustrated it was itself as a much younger tree, when no one could tell her how long the winter would last. It never understood the reason for this very ugly and seemingly unnecessary season. It remembered feeling sad when the older trees told her that not all trees were going through the same thing because in some parts of the world, it was summer. It felt so betrayed by the maker of trees and controller of the weather. It took a lot for them to finally get her to that place where he understood that everyone had their season and the fact that you were not always in bloom kind of meant that one is somewhat special. They told the tree then that The Father has different trees and each one goes through what is required for it to be effective in its own location. They explained to it that those other trees also go through “their thing” and also that the more precious you are, the more you may have to be taken apart from time to time to be strengthened so that you could bloom beautifully for the next season. They reminded it that the Apostles had to wait for the Holy Spirit. There is a huge possibility that people laughed at them hurdled up in one room and they seemed like cowards who had lost their leader. Yet Jesus said to wait until they receive the Holy Spirit and did not tell them when the Holy Ghost would come. The older trees then made it realize that some trees who didn’t have winter wished they could because they needed that rest in “air conditioner like weather;” they taught it to be content with what it had. It was a hard truth to chew but as life unfolded, it realized they were right. They also explained that there are benefits to winter; it is that time when one builds stability because the roots of trees get deeper. A tree needs deep roots because if it grows really tall without depth, it would break anyway as it bows to the wind. We need help that we may carry success successfully.

Luke 24” 49 “But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you power from heaven.”