A Display of His Splendor

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3

As I look back on my writings I have had a several thoughts about trees. I told the story of a little tree that was scarred by fire but because of it’s deep roots continued to lift it’s branches to the sky. I told also of how my Weeping Pine tree, that hung over my porch, was spared because of a surprising beauty that emerged after the crowd of trees around her was cut down. The picture that I displayed is of a beautiful walnut tree with it's fruit still hanging from it's almost leafless branches. I write about trees because I love trees, they are beautiful to me as they bud in the spring but also as they stand leafless through the fall and winter. Graceful branches against the backdrop of the winter skyline truly displays His splendor.

Many places in the bible, as in Isaiah, compares believers to trees planted by God. I know that if someone compared me to a tree I wouldn’t be too happy. If you think of it a tree is thick, rough and usually old. I remember a shirt that my mom wore on her sixtieth birthday that voices this it said “60 isn’t old….for a tree!”. If you look farther into the structure of a tree you realize that the tree has roots that reach far into the earth. I have read that a tree’s roots are usually as deep as the tree is tall. Those deep roots are able to take in nutrients and water that makes the tree strong enough to weather many storms and bad weather. If you cut a branch off of a tree you can actually see what has happened in the life of the tree. If the tree had a good year you can see that the tree branch grew that year but if the year was bad there was less growth which is indicated by rings that were closer together. There is not much that can topple a tree, though it is battered by weather, disease or pests so no wonder God plants us as the display of His splendor.

Sometimes we listen to satan’s lies that tells us we are damaged goods! God could never look on us as a mighty oak let alone a display of his splendor. But if you read Isaiah 61:1-3 you learn that our Sovereign Lord came to bind up the brokenhearted, give freedom to captives, comfort those who mourn and give them the spirit of praise rather than the spirit of despair and then we will be called “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. That gives me hope as I look at how life can batter and scar each of us. Praise God I am still A Display of His Splendor!