Deep in the woods

Posted by Ben Propst on May 5, 2010 in Daily Bread | 3 comments

Do you ever pray for patience? Do you ever pray for strength? As impatient as I am, I honestly hestitate to pray that prayer. Because how do I develop patience? By being put in a trying time that will TEST my patience. Isn’t it unfortunate that it takes those difficult times to make us the strongest/most patient/ etc?

Back in the late nineties I worked for a small company building rustic furniture. Everything was handmade. When people would hire us to build a pine log bed, we would hike into the forest and gather the material we needed. It usually took at least a full day to cut down the trees we needed. But there are pine trees everywhere in GA! Why would it take so long? Well, not every pine tree is the same. And we were looking for the strongest, most solid ones we could find. A pine tree growing out in the open on the side of the road is very different from the ones deep in the woods. The former will mature quickly. If you were to cut his tree down though you would find that is weighs very little. And the growth rings are far apart. Now the latter is a different story. Being deep in the woods, it has struggled for every ray of sunlight, every drop of rain. It is covered by towering hardwoods. What you find after harvesting this tree is amazing. The first thing you notice is the weight. It will be significantly heavier than the other pine. The growth rings are tight. Each year has been a fight for survival. But those are the trees we would want. They were the strongest; they were the most solid. This tree will hold up under stress.

I think we develop godly character in much the same way. It is through these hard times that God will grow us. He will be right there beside us as He takes us through the problem. It’s on the other side that we will see the fruit of patience, strength, perseverance.