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On
A Rock In a Hard Place
By
Jack Hayford
We stood on
a little bridge spanning the trickling creek. The calm flow of water
in late September in no way resembled the surgings and torrents
that gush through that site when the spring thaws come to Yosemite.
Looking downstream,
Anna and I observed the mighty boulders scattered along the length
of the stream bed, mute evidence of the explosive power of that
creek at floodtime. As we did, I mused over a young redwood tree,
standing right in the middle of the creek. On a slight, rocky rise
around which its gnarled root system clung, it had somehow found
a way to begin its life on that perilous perch.
That it had
begun didn't surprise me, in spite of the difficult granite footing,
for seedlings are born by the millions and swept away in the flush
of the spring tides. What did surprise me, was that it had survived.
I wondered how that happened there in the middle of a stream. If
the surging waters hadn't washed it away, surely the crashing boulders
should have crushed it.
But there it
was. Tall. Serene. Probably ten to twelve years old, and clearly
destined to stand for decades, if not centuries, to come.
I drew a conclusion
on my own. That tree's survival was related to a drought.
I can't prove
that, but there is no way in the world the young tree could have
survived its setting if there had not been a two or three year period
when the spring thaw was light. It was obvious that during the tree's
infant existence, the clawing fingers of the creek-become-river
didn't reach as high or pull as hard. The lower waters kept the
annual floods and the rolling boulders from threatening its life.
But another
factor came into play with the drought. The tree's roots searched
more deeply for their supply. The dry spell was a blessing which
not only allowed for survival, but which created the setting for
firmer anchoring against the springtimes ahead. The rushings of
the stream would be withstood because of roots sunk deep during
dry times.
Then I thought
about God...and about His providence. I thought about the fact that
notwithstanding the human interpretations about "chance,"
"fate," "luck," and the sundry other terms of
human incredulity, the Creator's hand had planted that tree. I thought
about God's life and breath establishing that seed. About His foreseeing
my wife and me standing on that little bridge someday, learning
from His textbook of creation.
And I praised
Him. I said, "Thank you, Lord, for the dry times in my soul-times
when I think I would prefer surgings, but times when You are calling
me deeper, deeper into a more thorough grasp of Your love and sustaining
grace toward me." And I thought of the verse: "He shall
be like a tree planted..."(Psalm 1:3)
Wherever you
are and whatever seems to be lacking around you, go deeper. You
aren't there by accident. He has you there on purpose. You'll not
only survive by His grace, you'll thrive. |
Jack
Hayford Ministries
14800 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91405-2233