The stunted tree

This is a picture of a little tree planted in the large space across the road from my house. You would think that this tree is just a year old, but actually this tree was planted way back in Jan 2004. Let me tell you the story of this tree.

My parents had gone to a village where these lovely tall trees provided shade. Not only did they provide shade, they also provided beauty and fragrance through it’s beautiful white blossoms which smell sweet and refreshing.

So enthralled by this tree, they bought a few young ones and came home with them. They gave one of it to me and I planted it across the road, expecting it to grow tall and begin blossoming. Alas, I became busy with my little ones, and then Jo came along. Unattended, the weeds quickly grew close up to it and began to choke it.

Noticing the poor condition of the tree, I finally removed the thick grass and weeds surrounding it, but that proved insufficient. Then I decided to put fertilizer, but it still proved futile. That tree did not grow an inch!!!

Then, one fine day, after 2 years of remaining stunted, the leaves began to turn brown, and within 4 days, I saw it wither and die. Later I found out that no matter what I did, it would not grow, coz there was one major factor that killed it. I found out that the ground was hard ground, full of large stones buried in it by the housing developers when they were building my house. They did not throw all the garbage away, but planted them in earth. This stones buried were unseen to my eye. But they served to stop the roots of the plant from growing, causing it to remain stunted, and eventually die.

Now a strange miracle happened though! A few days later, I noticed a new shoot growing! Yes, fresh and green! And so here it is now, a few months old. Now unless I tend to it more regularly and dig that hard ground and replace it with new earth, it too will probably die.

I think of this tree in relation to me. There have been times when the “weeds” of life have come crowding in so near I felt like I was choking and “dying”. But physically, I chose to then remove these weeds. The weeds were things such as an overtly busy schedule, pressure from work, procastination. These were things I could control.

But then there were/are also big stones, buried deep within where people cannot see. And these are the things which really could choke me to death. These stones I cannot remove on my own. Just as I have to help the tree by digging it’s earth, I believe that someone has to help me “dig” my heart and search me, and remove these stones. And only one person can do it, and that is God.

Actually, He has been removing stone after stone from my life. I remember a time in my teenage years when I was so choked by fear, fear of people. I felt isolated, entrapped, stuck, choked. But when I cried out to God, He helped me and began removing these “stones” a little at a time. Gradually I began to feel more free..and this process continues. I know, He (God) gave me a chance, and like my little tree, I grew a new shoot and became a new person. Just ask some of my long time friends and they’ll know it’s true.

What are the “stones” in your life? They could be issues related to fear, self-esteem, pride, stubbornness, unforgiveness, unforgettable/shattering incidents…… May we seek God, and let Him remove these things less we turn brown and wither and die. With His help and strength, we can grow “tall” and fragrant, like the beautiful trees my parents saw, and not stunted and choked like the tree in front of my house.