Sunday, In God's Economy, No Tree Too Big Not To Fail

ASIDE FROM MASSIVE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, BUSINESSES AND HOMES, THE GREAT NASHVILLE FLOOD OF 2010 two weeks ago did quite a number on some of its finest specimens in the natural world, especially its big trees. It's astounding to see how quickly some of the seeming largest, healthiest, most dominant trees in the forests fell like toothpicks in over-saturated soils no longer able to hold up and support massive but shallow roots systems that had anchored them for decades.

In the latest round of pounding rain and flooding, big trees on slopes simply toppled---crashed--- over in rain-soaked soils, taking massive gravel, earth and sometimes pavement with the, often it looking like they'd been through an earthquake or a massive landslide. Any tree with a horizontal root system that didn't go deep was----and still is---in danger of future failure. So hiking under the canopy of these big, listing trees is not very appealing propostion at this time.

I'd like to think there are some spiritual lessons we can learn in thsee big events of nature. Here are a few I thought of: 1) Nothing in God's natural world is too big not to fail. There is no such thing as a bailout mentality here. 2) When failure happens, new life begins to sprout and take root almost immediately, spontaneously. There's always something to take the downed trees place---now that there's more sunshine, space and moisture for new growth. There's no federal nanny natural state to regulate and dicker with the laws of nature God has set in motion. 3) Establishing deep roots systems in life is far more stabilizing in natural and human crises than shallow, wide root ones. I think the corollary for us humans is to establish our spiritual lives deeply rooted in Christ and the Word of God. God promises over and over in the Bible, that lives established and lived there----rather than the world's shallow, fallen system---cannot and will not fail, especially in the eternal sense. 4) Trees, like fallen people may survive long periods of time with shallow roots seeming to hold them up. However, sooner or later there comes---will come---a deeper, more massive crisis and shaking, large enough to expose and destroy the shallow-rootedness both in nature and human nature. We best prepare for such times by asking to be shown a real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the deepest, most stabilizing, and faithful taproot of all.