“This forest feels sick, as if
a disease lies upon it. Is there
no way around?” J.R.R. Tolkien
This line struck a cord in my soul.
I have always had a special place for trees. I grew up in a place where enormous
evergreen and maple trees grow and stand.
I enjoyed playing in them and amongst them. I have great memories of the trees that filled the greenbelts
and woods of my childhood home.
Today I like growing trees in pots on my back porch. Some have grown from seed and acorn,
others I have discovered while tending to my yard and garden. Little presents from God. White crape
myrtles and boxwood elders seem to be my favorite.
Trees are beautiful things but that wasn’t the main reason
why Tolkien’s sentence echoed in the chambers of my soul.
It was the correlation that my soul drew upon. It was the illustration that God
Himself often makes in His word… How trees symbolically represent people.
“They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
Referenced from Isaiah 61.
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“But as my people watched, I destroyed the
Amorites, though they were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks. I destroyed the fruit of their branches
and dug out their roots” Amos 2:9
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the
LORD And whose trust is the LORD. "For he will be like a
tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear
when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious
in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit." Jeremiah 17:8
Even our LORD Jesus Christ is referred to as a tree or branch
in scripture.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1
Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is
the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple
of the Lord;” Zechariah 6:12
How
differently I think of the cedars of Lebanon that Solomon used to construct the
temple of the Lord. For this event was to illustrate what was to come. It
was to show us how the Lord and King, Jesus Christ, would use God’s forests (so
to speak) to construct the living temple where he would dwell.
“Don't
you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit
of God lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16
A
temple that the red dragon, Satan, would love to destroy in as many ways as
possible.
“And
the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her
children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for
Jesus.” Revelation 12:17
Tolkien’s
speaks of a sick forest, a forest that has been put under an evil spell, a
poison that has allowed evil to undermine and weaken the forest of
Mirkwood. It has caused the
trees, under closer examination, to become bare and fruitless and pale. Evil has been allowed to weave
its webs there and those assigned to task of overseeing these forests have been
overwhelmed at the decline and condition of these once beautiful
woodlands.
It has
reminded of such verses in the bible.
“You
say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't
realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
Revelation 3:17
“The ax is already
at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will
be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:10
“Because of the increase
of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm
to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-12
Now
it’s NOT hard to imagine why Satan, the deceiver, would try to convince many
with his skilled poisonous whispers "division from God". In fact Satan tried to separate God’s chosen
creation, made in God’s image, by encouraging Eve and Adam to question God in the Garden
of Eden. Satan still tempts individuals with the temporal
pleasures and foolish opinions of fallen men -that God is not all that
important. Satan uses items such as money and the securities and comforts of the world that never satisfy in hopes to keep many away from God. Blinded by the dragon's sickness these people become
disenchanted, selfish and close-minded about life.
For
how many... have you known, who inadvertently took their eyes off God and found
themselves in a dark predicament?
Have you ever thought everything is meaningless and pointless because you have failed to seek, surrender your perspective and been appreciative to God for the things He has given you?
Have you ever thought everything is meaningless and pointless because you have failed to seek, surrender your perspective and been appreciative to God for the things He has given you?
Satan
tries his hardest to get people’s eyes off of God, who is the sustainer and
light of men. (Why do you think Satan works so hard to get God’s name out of “this”
and out of “that”?) For God is the
LIFE giving Spirit and without Him we would be doomed to become like the Forest
of Mirkwood or the still trees of Narnia.
“And the trees, they retreated so deep
into themselves that they haven’t been heard from since.”…. Narnia movie quote.
Ever
been in the presence of such a tree or gathering of trees? Their thoughts continue in same
circular pattern that drives them into a dark deep hole. They lose track of the path in which
they were to stay on. They don’t seem
to remember to look up for a way out.
Fortunately
by the grace of God, we have been awakened from such dreadful heavy states
just as David.
“Why am I
discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise
him again--my Savior and my God!” Psalm 43:5
Jesus
said,
“God
blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is theirs.” Matthew 5:3
What a
mighty verse to stop the dark allure of spreading its blight and causing inner
spoil of blackness and rot.
Here
is another...
“3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent
and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as
unexpected as a thief.” Revelation 3:3
We
need a good shaking from time to time to knock off the cold heavy snow from our
branches that hasn’t allowed us to hear or see clearly.
We need a good wind to stir us to allow our roots to grow down into God's love.
In transplanting my trees, I find some become root bound. I have to cut the roots on the side of
the root ball so they will grow properly in the ground. We too can put ourselves in a pot
of our own making and become root bound in our own understanding and stop
maturing and becoming fruitful. BUT God because He loves us took us out of that pot, cut the root bound away and placed us in His fertile soil with no pots!!! God doesn't set limitations on us but we do.
“I
pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner
strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will
make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down
into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And
may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how
long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May
you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that
comes from God.” Ephesians 3:16-19
So
when you feel the allure to trust in something other then God or when all you
seem to see is darkness, the mundane, and the meaningless of the world -submit to God and he will lift you up-
James 4:10.
Remember
Satan wants to undermine and sicken the forest of God. He wants to destroy the tree that you
are in God. He wants to tear down
the temple and it's beauty that God is creating in you. He wants to
contaminate your mind and heart with his dragon sickness just as illustrated
with Thorin Oakshield in the Hobbit who exhibited hostility, quarreling, jealousy,
outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, division, the feeling that everyone is
wrong except those in your own little group, envy… these are just some of the symptoms listed
in Galatians 5:19-21. A sickness
if not awakened and healed from, leads to no eternal life in heaven.
Satan does
not want you to become what God has planned for you. He wants you to close and blockade the doors and shut them so no light comes in and darkness can have it's way with you.
Think of it this way, Satan
knows…
Who wants to look at a sick tree? Who wants to go into a sick forest? Would you use rotten trees to build a house? Of course not! Get the picture?
“Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come
near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and
purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8
“I am coming
quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My
God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name
of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes
down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ‘He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation
3:11-13
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