I’m sure like many of you, I watched as Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean, leaving devastation in her path.  As I scoured to watch and view whatever video and photo images that I could find, I was again struck by the force of these horrible storms and the ability of palm trees to survive the winds and storm surges unleashed as man-made, strong, ‘hurricane-proof’ buildings yet again lost the battle to nature.

Several years ago a microburst crossed the back side of our property, resulting in the loss of dozens of giant white oak trees, uprooted by the wind.  Thankfully this event occurred far away from our residence and outbuildings.  The sheer volume of magnificent, 70+ year-old trees laying on their sides, revealing massive ‘root balls’ of the trees deep tap root and smaller lateral roots, was awe inspiring and a sight causing sadness at the loss.

You virtually never see a palm tree laying over with roots exposed after wind events.  But the mighty white oak laying over, roots exposed, is quite common.  Why?  Well, I am sure those who read my ramblings will be surprised to read that I see a spiritual comparison between these trees and their “standing” after a storm.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2 ESV

As I researched how the mighty palm tree withstands the storm, I learned that its trunk is made of a “of a jumble of tough, fibrous strands and spongy tissue, not a rigid, solid wood.”  The palm tree’s flexible fiber allows it to stretch and bend in the midst of the storm’s onslaught.  The palm tree’s fronds (palm leaves) are designed to allow wind and rain to flow through with minimal resistance to the storm’s fury.  The foundation of the mighty palm is a dense root system of fibrous materials that spreads wide, resulting in an anchor that is very difficult to uproot.  

The white oak, so common here in east TN, is made of rigid, inflexible, solid wood whose uses are many and design, while incredibly strong, causes it to be vulnerable to the storm.  You see, the white oak root system has a single tap root for depth surrounded by lateral roots great for gathering life sustaining water, but lousy for withstanding certain of nature’s attacks.  As rain wets the ground providing life-giving water to the white oak’s roots, it also exposes these trees vulnerability to shifting soil and the wind from the storm.  They topple over when storms rage around them.

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”  Nahum 1:7 (ESV)

So here’s the point that I am trying to make in this lengthy observation.  The very attributes that we recognize as admirable and awe inspiring can be the great liability of our lives.  The rigidity of the ‘solid oak’ exposes its vulnerability.  The fibrous design of the palm allows it to withstand when the storm rages.  God designed us to be fluid in our lives, accepting the storms raging in and around us while having the core foundation of scripture supported by a root system of imperfect brothers and sisters in Christ, that creates a trunk (life) that cannot be easily destroyed.

As the oak grows tall, its vulnerability grows as well and is completely exposed when other trees around it are removed.  Many times we as God’s children choose height and acclaim dependent on the affirmation of those equally broken around us versus developing a root system anchored in the truth of Jesus Christ, revealed in scripture.  We become vulnerable.

“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”  Matthew 20:16 (KJV)

When the storm rages, allow the onslaught to pass through without blemish like the duck allows water to flow off its back.  The rigid white oak and the palm have one thing in common, they are trees.  One suited for the storms sure to come and the other a good source to be cut down, plained, dried and placed underfoot.  Choose the joy and purpose of a life secure in the foundational truth of Jesus and the infallibility of scripture, with a flexible approach of love and steadfast resistance in the storms of life sure to come.

You’ve got this.