Do you see these twisted trees? They are in the woods by our house. They fascinate me. We have tiny little forests of these twisted trees. I sometimes stand and stare at them for a minute (if they were people I’d be considered rude) trying to figure out how they got that way. Was something in their way and they had to grow around it? Why do they grow in groups like that? Is it a certain species of tree? What caused the twisting? Is the twisting contagious? Is it a nutrient problem? Is the soil bad? Some of you may already know the answer to these questions and actually wonder why I wonder about my forest of twisted trees. I’m just weird. Anyway, I’ve done a little research. I’m no arborist, so I found no good answer.
My research found lots of twisted trees, but not many that exactly matched mine. I’m pretty sure they are not the mysterious twisted trees of Poland for obvious reasons – we’re not in Poland. They’re not the Saskatchewan trees for obvious reasons – we’ve not seen a Big Foot. So what kind of trees are they? I’ve come to the conclusion they are just what they look like, twisted trees. They started out growing normally, you can see that from the trunk, but somewhere in their growth they started turning, started twisting, started wringing. But the most interesting things about these trees is that because of the twisting, the roping, they eventually all point downward and they break off right above the twist. For some reason, they just can’t get straightened out. Is it a genetic flaw? Is it because once the twisting begins, they can’t get untwisted? Is it because of the trees around them? Who knows, one can only surmise. Why would you even care, you ask? Because I think part of practicing the presence of God is looking for Him in absolutely everything He created and asking — Is there a lesson to learn from Him? A change to be made in me? When I look at the twisted trees, I think, yes.
Could this mini forest of twisted trees be an illustration of how our lives are sometimes? We get twisted, turned around, gnarled, tied up in knots, and that always leads us to point in the wrong direction, right? I know this is strange thinking, but I hope you see where I’m coming from. Think about your life. Are there times you have felt like the twisted trees? All wrung out, twisted up so tight you’re heading in the wrong direction and ready to break off? Me too. So how exactly do we get straightened out? There’s only One Way…
Come…
Incline…
Seek…
Call…
Turn…
Isaiah 55
Wednesday Read Isaiah 55. Make a list of all the verbs – the action words – that God tells us to do. Beside each word note how we are to put each into practice.
Thursday Read Isaiah 55. Make a list of all God’s promises if we put our list of action words into action.
Friday Read Isaiah 55. Read from a different version today. Make a note of what we are to turn from and what we are to turn to. The only way we can untwist something that is twisted so tight that it can cause breakage is to turn it back. What has us so twisted that we feel about to break? Instead of continuing to turn to that which is causing us to be twisted, we must turn away from that which is causing us to be twisted. How do we put that in action in our daily lives?
Saturday Read Matthew 13:1-23. So, do we get twisted up because of our soil? Four soils, four responses to God’s message. Which one are you? Which one do you want to be? Which soil should we be?
Sunday Spend some time in praise and prayer today. Praise God for the power to untwist our lives and pray God’s power on the untwisting of our lives.
Monday Read Mark 4:35-41. When the waves of life are crashing around us, do we rely on Jesus to keep His promises and calm the waves, or do we automatically twist into knots and only rely on Him when we’re about to break? Do we need to change our reaction to the storms of life? It may be difficult, but it is certainly doable, with the Holy Spirit’s power.
Tuesday Read Acts 3:12-26. Our twisting may be a result of sin. It could be our sin or another’s sin. It could be our sin or our reaction to sin in our life or another’s. Verse 19 tells us what to do – you may have that on your list from Monday. Verse 20 tells us the result of that action.