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Trees offer profound lessons about life, resilience, and God’s creation. They are rooted deeply, defy gravity, provide shade, supply firewood, and serve as materials for building homes and crafting beautiful furniture. Their utility and symbolism reflect God’s design and purpose, teaching us enduring truths about faith and existence.
Pointing to God
Some believe trees point upward to God, symbolizing a connection to the divine. While trees in the northern hemisphere appear to reach skyward, those in the southern hemisphere might seem to point downward due to the Earth’s curvature. Yet, their growth toward light reflects a universal striving for God’s glory. As Psalm 148:7-9 declares, “Praise the Lord from the earth… mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,” trees are part of creation’s chorus glorifying God, reminding us to look up.
Trees Defy Gravity and Store Sunshine
Trees miraculously draw water from roots to their highest leaves, defying gravity through God’s intricate design. Their leaves absorb sunlight, storing energy that, when burned as firewood, releases warmth and light from the sun. A campfire is essentially stored sunshine, a testament to God’s provision embedded in nature. John 1:4 reminds us, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind,” suggesting that the life-giving energy in trees mirrors the divine light of Christ sustaining creation. Jesus, the Son of God, offers and sustains life for mankind.
Steadfast
The Bible encourages us in 1 Corinthians 15:58 to “be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” In my topsy-turvy world, the tree in my front yard stands steady and immovable, greeting me daily with its quiet strength. This stability reflects God’s unchanging nature, as described in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Like the tree, God remains a constant anchor amidst life’s storms.
Design
Have you noticed that tree branches with leaves often start several feet above ground level? This seems intentional, perhaps shaped by animals nibbling foliage within reach but more likely, by God’s design to allow people to walk beneath without constantly stooping. This accessibility reflects God’s care for creation’s harmony, as seen in Genesis 1:29: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Trees are structured to serve both man and animals. They are God’s wondrous creation.
Sustenance
Trees provide shade from the harsh sun, but many offer far more. Fruit trees yield delicious bounty—oranges, plums, cherries, bananas, apples, and avocados, to name a few. This provision echoes God’s generosity, as Psalm 104:14-16 states, “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted.” Even Christmas trees, adorned in celebration, remind us of God’s gift of Jesus.
Memorials
The tallest tree ever recorded, the Nooksack Giant, a Coast Douglas-fir, stood 465 feet before being cut down in 1896. My wife and I once sought the world’s tallest tree in the 1980s in Northern California’s Redwoods. Upon arrival, a ranger informed us that the tree, after growing for 500 years, had fallen in a storm the previous weekend. He smiled and said, “Lucky for you, here it lies, and you can get a really good look at it now.” This experience humbled us, reminding us of life’s impermanence, as Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 notes, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.”
Today, the tallest standing tree, named Hyperion, and the largest, named the General Sherman, both reside in California, 427 miles apart. Hyperion soars to 380 feet in Redwoods National Park, while General Sherman, in Sequoia National Park near Mount Whitney, stands 272 feet tall with a mass of 52,508 cubic feet and a weight exceeding 6,000 tons (over 12 million pounds). Its branches alone dwarf most trees, and its base spans over 100 feet in circumference. These giants reflect God’s grandeur, as Job 37:14 invites us to be still and consider God’s wonders. “Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine? Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?”
Provision
With over 23,000 tree species worldwide, trees provide food, medicine, and building materials. They offer shade, act as windbreaks, control floods by anchoring soil, and provide safe nesting for birds. A mature leafy tree produces enough oxygen for two to ten people annually and absorbs up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. This life-sustaining role aligns with Genesis 2:9, “The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.”
Endurance
The oldest tree, a bristlecone pine over 5,000 years old, stands in the White Mountains near Nevada’s border. Visiting these remarkable trees—Hyperion, General Sherman, and this ancient pine—reveals their longevity as a testament to God’s enduring creation. Psalm 92:12-14 compares righteous living to enduring trees: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. They shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon and those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.”
Trees, in their strength, provision, and beauty, teach us to root ourselves in faith, reach for God’s sustaining light, and remain steadfast. They are living reminders of His creation’s purpose and glory.
The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly
Psalm 1:1-3: [“They” substituted for “he”.]
“Blessed are those who walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful; But their delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law they meditate day and night. They shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever they do shall prosper.”
