“They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.”
Isaiah 61:3
Dear Father,
I have an oak tree on my front lawn and You have shown me a thing or two with that tree. My oak tree didn’t suddenly appear. It started out as an acorn attached to a branch. Somewhere and sometime ago, a wind caused that little acorn to fall to the ground. No longer was it hanging with its buddies. It had fallen from its perch and now lay all alone on the cold ground. It wanted to be back on the limb, but that meant the impending possibility of becoming squirrel food and You had much bigger plans for this little nut. Soon the rains pushed the little acorn closer to the soil until it slowly began to cover it. The little acorn’s situation seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Alone in a dark place, seeming to suffocate under the blanket of soil, the little acorn could only trust in Your greater plan. The warm, moist earth began to eat away at the outer shell until the seed within came in direct contact with the soil. Searching for water a tiny tendril of a sprout began to spiral downward. Deeper it went until the sprout became a root. Above the ground no one could see any signs of growth. But so much was going on in the quiet place below the surface. The roots were growing and strengthening and then one day a little shoot emerged above the ground and a tree was born. What was seen above the surface was only a fraction of what lay beneath. Just when the little tree was beginning to feel strong, a shovel began to unearth her roots. She was being transplanted. A loving gardener gently dug up the little tree with a much bigger purpose in mind. He took the tree and placed her where he had planned long before she was ever created. A place that needed shade from the hot sun, a place that needed protection from the winds, a place that would provide him delight each time he saw her. That little sapling was carefully tended by the gardener as her roots grabbed the soil of her new planting. Quickly they grew down and quickly they grew out as the tree took her place. One day the tree started to produce fruit. Little seeds that hopefully will one day become trees and produce more fruit. Thank You Father for my oak tree and the lesson You gave me from it. Thank You for taking me, a little nut, and making me into an oak of righteousness for Your splendor. The glory is Yours always.
Love,
Penny
