Where Is Your Tree Planted?

I have a friend who loves to garden and I have to admit I envy his ability to make things grow. I was not blessed with a green thumb but I do appreciate the beautiful creation that God has made and I enjoy learning about all the awe striking parts of it. I recently sat in a sermon and a phrase dropped into my heart. Where is your tree planted? I thought it was odd, since I am not a gardener like my friend  and the sermon had nothing to do with trees, that God would use this phrase to draw me to pray, but pray I did.

In my time of prayer I began to ask myself that question and in His goodness God began to answer. As He often does He started by asking me a question and as I seek Him I begin to feel Him guiding me through a conversation with Him. I asked where should it be planted? He then asked me ‘What does a tree need to thrive’? So I began to make a list of items I thought were needed to ensure life and growth for my tree.

A tree needs good soil so its roots can go deep and help it be strong and stable. If the ground is too hard the roots will grow too near the surface and the tree runs the risk of being knocked down by the next storm.

A tree needs enough water or it will wither and die. It also needs sunlight or it will be stunted and lack growth.  A tree needs carbon dioxide that it might fulfill its purpose to create oxygen that people may live.

A tree also needs time in which it can translate all of these items into growth. In fact with age it marks the passage of time by adding both width and height. One interesting thing about this growth is that oftentimes all that is seen is the end result but not necessarily the process. Growth for most trees is a slow and steady process that moves at its own pace. It is also mostly noted in the outer evidence but laying deep within the tree is a record of its growth in the form of rings which mark the growth journey and are unseen by the naked eye while the tree is still standing.

I laid my list on the table before the Lord and asked Him to show me the lesson. He faithfully began to respond in my heart to each item. A tree needs good soil so be sure to plant where the soil is rich and filled with nutrients. Like the tree your heart needs to be planted in such soil so choose wisely that your roots will grow deeply in my love and truth. If your heart is planted in ground that is too hard or lacks nutrients you roots will be shallow and you will be battered by the storms of this world. Storms will most surely come but if you are anchored in me you will stand through them and come out stronger. If your roots are deep in me you will always have the nutrients you need. And like the sun always returns after the rain so will my love for you always restore you after a storm.

A tree needs water so that it will not wither and die, so your spirit needs the washing of my Word to keep you refreshed and renewed. Be sure to drink in my Word so when the summer heat shines on you it will not cause you to wither but you will instead be able to quench your spirit from the well within. I have built trees to store water so that dry days are not withering. They do however need to regularly draw water within themselves to thrive so you need to be filled with my living water for only then will you have a source that sustains you in dry times.

A tree absorbs sunlight and uses it to grow so you need to absorb my love for you to grow. I have so much love ready to pour into you so that you may be strong and mighty like the trees that tower to the sky.

Like those trees you will grow and that growth will be a steady process if you take the time to use all these things I give you. Like the tree people will see the width and height but I know the growth journey that lays deep within. I see all your layers, everything you have faced and overcome and that has been grafted into your being. I know the journey is hard and can seem like it is insurmountable at times but if your tree is planted in these things you will overcome and be stronger. There is no circumstance or pestilence that will harm you for I will take what was meant for harm and turn it for good.

The tree is made to absorb carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen. You are made in my image and just as I absorbed your sin and converted it to love and restored relationship with your Heavenly Father so you are to expel that love back out into the world that others might be drawn to Him and  live.  It is in this process that your heart and spirit are fulfilled.

I sat back and looked at all that God had said and prayed that I would plant my tree in good soil, that I would draw from His love and that I would share that love with everyone who encountered me. So as I was asked I ask you “Where is your tree planted? “