It's Only a Tree
Photo by Rowan Heuvel
Before my husband and I moved to a lake house in the country over a year ago, we used to live in a neighborhood with big houses and beautifully manicured lawns. It was quiet except for occasional airplanes heard overhead. People there were friendly, and I often waved to them as I passed by on my way to school or the baseball field, or as I was heading off to church. I rarely spoke to my neighbors. I’m not really sure why. I guess it was because I was busy doing my thing and so were they.
As I think about the words of Jesus “love your neighbor as yourself,” I have to ask myself what these words mean to me. How can I love someone who I don’t even know? How can I be there for them if we have no relationship? Then again, who really is my neighbor?
I’m an enthusiastic gardener, and like many in Texas I cherish every shade-giving tree in our yard. In this big house, we had two or three trees that were probably 50 to 75 years old. After a spring thunderstorm one year, I returned from an outing to find one of my favorite trees completely uprooted and destroyed. I was heartsick, nearly in tears. Then as I walked to the back of the house to assess potential damage, I saw two more aged trees that had lost large limbs. My eyes stung and my heart hurt.
I remember thinking, “I knew I should have prayed over those trees.”
Silly? Maybe. But God immediately reminded me of Jonah. You remember, don’t you? God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn the people of the coming destruction because of their wickedness, yet Jonah didn’t want to go. So he hopped on a boat headed for Tarshish instead.
Thinking he was hiding from God, Jonah settled in and fell asleep.
Photo by Haitham
During a violent storm on the open water, Jonah awoke, only to be interrogated and then thrown overboard by the other passengers.
Jonah had a second conversation with God, and this time he obeyed His command to go to Nineveh and warn the people. The Ninevites listened and believed in God, humbled themselves before Him, and hoped He would spare them. When God saw their deeds, that they had turned from their wicked ways, He did relent concerning the calamity He had declared He would bring upon them.
Jonah’s response? Anger. He says, “I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people” (Jonah 4:2, NLT).
Jonah did not want this enemy of Israel to be spared. After all, why should all they had done be forgiven, wiped clean and made new? So, on this hot day, he went outside the city to sulk and wait. In His mercy, God arranged for a plant to grow over Jonah, guiding its broad leaves to shade him from the sun.
While Jonah was grateful for the plant and his eased discomfort, God had a lesson for Jonah. He then sent a worm to attack the plant, which soon withered and died. Then God sent a scorching east wind that allowed the hot sun to beat down on Jonah in such a way that he felt faint and desired to die. Now Jonah was completely drained, lost in bitterness, depleted of hope, and filled with anger. To top it off, the beautiful plant had done nothing wrong to die at the whim of a worm.
Photo by Ingo Doerrie
At this point, the story gets personal. Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry for a plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:10–11, NLT)
Like Jonah, God had a lesson for me, too. I had to be honest with myself and with God.
My sorrow over the loss of a tree was starkly contrasted with my lack of concern for those in my sphere of influence who are living in spiritual darkness.
As a Christian, shouldn’t I have the heart of God?
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, NASB).
I began to look at people differently. Is it possible that the nameless lady I see every week at the dry cleaners is really my neighbor? What about the teenage girl who checks me out at the local grocery store? Or what about the mom on the soccer field, in a bad marriage and at the end of her rope?
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4, NASB).
God reminded me that a little kindness and compassion, in a world hurting and desperately in need of a Savior, is one way I can love my neighbor. Caring for people is at the heart of the Gospel message.
Jesus says in Matthew 9:12, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.”
Photo by David Vig
Back at our house, the granddaddy of all trees stood majestic and tall in our backyard. What a beautiful tree, with an expansive canopy that protected our abode from the western evening sun. We called it the “big” tree.
Then, during another spring storm, my husband and I woke up to lightning and low booms of thunder. The wind was blowing hard.
Then we heard it, a massive crack, a splintering of wood. My husband said, “There goes the big tree.”
For a moment, I was sorry. Then I was able to roll over and go back to sleep.
After all, it was only a tree.
- ALLY
This article first appeared on Medium.com on September 2, 2018.