19. Stronger Than I Ever Knew

I recently heard a poem that I loved. It's called The Oak Tree, by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.
"A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree's leaves away
Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke.
How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You'll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn't sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I've found, with thanks to you
I'm stronger than I ever knew"

I love this poem because it puts so simply why we face trials, or at least one reason why. Jesus spoke in parables. Why? I think one reason is because it makes the lessons more accessible. This poem does that using vivid imagery. Everyone has seen a storm whip a tree around, or tear it's branches off. Everyone has felt the winds of trials rip into them. We can relate to the oak tree and gain strength to stand strong.

I hope that when we stand before Christ at the Judgement Day, we can say to the wind "I've found, with thanks to you, I'm stronger than I ever knew." Trials help us, even if they hurt while we're going through them.

I have had an experience with this. My Sophomore year of High School, I was struggling with everything, school, church, friends, everything. I felt like I was lost, being tossed by a mighty wind all over the place, with no roots. No matter how hard I prayed, I felt like no one was listening. But someone was, and He sent me one of my best friends in the whole world. This friend helped me get through the year, by listening when I needed someone to talk to, by sending random texts throughout the day to make me smile, by doing his best to understand what I was going through, even though he didn't fully understand all the Spiritual stuff. He helped me find my roots.

At the end of that year, I looked back and realized that I had not left my roots, the wind had just twisted me so I couldn't see them. After that year, I could look the wind in the face and say "Until today, I wasn't sure Of just how much I could endure, But now I've found, with thanks to you, I'm stronger than I ever knew."

Just like the Brad Paisley song quoted beneath my blog picture, I lost myself, but with the help of a friend sent strait from God in answer to a desperate cry for help, I got through the wind and found that my roots go deeper than I thought. I have a stronger testimony now that God does hear and answer our prayers. I also know that He knows what's best for us, what winds we must face to grow stronger, and He knows exactly how deep our roots go. If we turn to Him, He will not let the wind knock us down. We may get scratched, dented, bruised, torn, and scarred, but at the end of the day, we will be able to stand before Him and say "I have given my all, I have fought the good fight."

poem courtesy of http://www.ellenbailey.com/poems/ellen_143.htm