THE OAK TREE

Today Iridian started out as soon as she arrived at my house. She said, "today the devotion is on the oak tree in my yard."   She pondered and thought a little while and said, “actually I think today is the day you will start doing two devotions a day.” Now if it was the Lord telling me that I’d be saying, “seriously Lord I can’t do that, I barely could do one a week before last week and now I’m doing one a day”. How could I possibly get two a day completed. I found it’s much easier to verbally come up with a devotion and tell it to a small child than it is to sit down here and type one up before telling it out loud. Out of the mouths of babes the Lord speaketh. There is no doubt because I just can’t tell this precious child no. She informed me that she would pick the second object after I finished the first.

The old oak tree stands in my yard summer, winter, spring and fall. No matter what is taking place with the weather it continues to stand. Although this oak tree doesn’t always look the same. There are many times that people drive by and see the oak tree and its leaves are green and vibrant. They are blowing in the wind and everyone is amazed by its beauty. During this time the tree represents the summer. Everything is going great and we are showing our true color.

But as we all have trials in our lives and there are always storms that blow against us, the same is true for the oak tree. When the cooler weather comes and the storms beat against the tree its leaves turn yellow and then brown and start to drop to the ground. The tree is still an oak tree but when you look at it, it’s not quite as beautiful as before, due to all the bad elements hitting against it.

Then even colder weather comes and the storms blow the freezing rain against the oak tree. All the leaves have fallen to the ground and this tree just stands there totally bare. There is really no beauty left in the oak tree. When you look at the tree you can remember the day that it was strong and filled with joy and happiness and its leaves with vibrant and green blowing in the wind. Those times have passed and now the tree is sad and looks so lonely and bare. It still has the same limbs and the same roots the same as we still have Jesus living inside of us but for this season the bad things have affected our lives.

Then the warmer weather comes and the oak tree starts feeling much better. He begins to smile and thank the Lord that he made it through all the storms and the bad times. He begins to feel vibrant and feel that before long the Lord will allow people to have picnics under his branches once again. The children will run and play and the sun will smile down upon it. It will start to sprout out new leaves and they will grow and look so beautiful. It feels so wonderful to once again have leaves growing and blowing in the wind.

Our lives are like the oak tree. We will all go through the seasons and people will look at us and at times they will see we look sad and almost gone. There will be other times that we look vibrant and beautiful. We must always remember that if we are in the winter, the spring is coming and then the summer. We don’t have to stay in the fall and winter months. We have something to look forward to.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in
n the seat of the scornful But his delight is in the law of the LORD;

and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

\And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shll not wither;

and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so:

but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous:

but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalms Chapter 1