A “big un”.  This tree next to Goodwater Church Cemetery was four feet across the trunk and pushing 100 feet tall.  This tree has been a “big ole” tree since I was a little boy (been a while now).  Well what happened?

Nature has a way of showing its strength.  First, the rain, and lots of it.  You can still see the water in the hole left from the ball of roots.  The rain soaked the soil making it mushy and unstable.  Then,……… then…….. an invisible force came along with such power that it knocked this massive tree to the ground.  This most powerful invisible force?  We call it wind.  Yep, just a movement of air caused this HUGE tree to tip over and change the coarse of this particular tree.  See, when a tree lies flat on the ground it’s no longer called a tree.  It’s now called a log and firewood.

What was amazing to me is how big the hole was where the roots had been.  It was big enough that I could fit my pickup truck in it and still have room maybe for a trailer!  It was a big HUGE shallow hole…………   Did I say shallow?  A pine tree is supposed to have what is called a “tap root”.  This central root goes straight down into the ground.  It becomes a huge root as it makes its way deeper and deeper for nourishment and also to be the anchor for the tree.  Oooops, no tap root here.  Nada, nothin’, just a ball of shallow roots.  Who knows why there was no main tap root.  Disease, wet ground, damage from pests, etc whatever the reason, the tap root was non existent.  Well no wonder it got blowed over.

Having lived just down the road, I can testify that this tree has lived through a couple of hurricanes, a tornado, many storms, and one squirrel hunt involving several .22 shots into it.  But get the ground unstable from lots of soaking rains, and send along a straight force wind.  TIMBERRRRRRRR, down she comes.

Rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  Colossians 2:7

We talked about being rooted in the Rock of Ages a few weeks ago.  It showed a pine tree growing out of the rocks in the Colorado mountains.  Today we see a HUGE tree with lots of roots, but no “tap root”.  It wasn’t going to last.  Too shallow.

The tree was growing shallow, not deep.  Grow deep on your spiritual journey.  How? Study God’s Word.  Have times of devotions and quiet times with just you and your Lord and Saviour.  Seek Him.  Ask of Him. And grow.  Grow your roots in Jesus Christ.  Then when everything around us gets unstable we have grown a “tap root” that is deep and anchored.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, and needing a bigger saw!