Shimmering Aspens

 

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

—John 3:8

As a follow-up to the devotional I wrote in the last blog post about “Roots and Fruits,” I would like to share with you another tree image worth comparing to the Christian life. This tree, widely distributed throughout North America, nevertheless, has the thickest concentration in Colorado.

These beautiful trees, not extremely tall, can live for 150 years or more and often survive best and recover best from wildfires. Their root system can live and reproduce by cloning for thousands of years.¹

When God places in us His powerful Holy Spirit, He puts within us the capacity to withstand the storms of life. He knows such storms will strengthen us and ultimately prepare us for use to His glory. Even when we think the fiery experiences of life might destroy us, we can come through those experiences by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The leaves of the aspen shimmer in the wind and “quake.” They show a lacey daintiness that belies their strength. They move in the slightest breeze. Here’s how Joni Eareckson Tada compared them to a Spirit-led life:

I want to be that sensitive to the Spirit’s touch, don’t you? A soul that is sensitive to sin, that resonates at the slightest movement of the Spirit. A soul that quivers when the breath of God all but touches it. How do we become this sensitive? Simple: be ready, stretch out your branches, unfurl your heart to God, for you never know when his wind will rise your way. After, all, like the wind, the spirit is uncontrollable and unpredictable. ²

Each season of the year, God has something to teach us. As we view His world of creation and ponder the lessons it provides, let’s pray He will help us grow deep and strong, able to withstand the storms, and yet free and sensitive to the leading of His Holy Spirit, as we live day to day in order to declare His glory.

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1 Information about “Aspens” from Wikipedia and from an article by R. Scott Rappold in “Out There Colorado,” September 19, 1918, published in the Gazette.

2 Tada, Joni Eareckson. More Precious Than Silver. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. Entry for September 11th.