Trees

Recently I found myself in a conversation about how people are like trees. A particularly bubbly friend of mine was outside dancing with what could only be described as the pure joy of the Lord, and simply commented "I'm like a tree!". Immediately I was reminded of Mark 8 (22-26), where Jesus was healing a blind man, and the healing came in 2 stages. First, the blind man could see, but not clearly. He said "I see people, they look like trees walking around". Then Jesus touched him again and normal vision was restored. Then there's this whole idea of fruit of the spirit, and the harvest, and all the myriad of other Biblical references to tress, fruitfulness and so on.

So I said "yeah, you are like a tree...We all are", and this of course sparked an interesting evening of conversation regarding the nature of this concept, what kinds of tree different people are (my friend is a cherry tree; kind of short, beautiful, very fruitful, flowering and somewhat fruity - in a good way). It's funny this all came up, as I haven't known this person very long, but for whatever reason had a pretty good sense of her personality (and what kind of tree she was) the first day we met. One of those people you just know you're going to get along well with, right from the start.

The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²²They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"

²⁴He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."

²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village."

Some people are oak trees; mighty, ancient, deep-rooter, fruitful and producing good wood. Others are willows; beautiful, flexible, good for holding things together, usually near the water (that's a whole other concept) and sometimes melancholy. This isn't some weird pseudo-psychic concept; it's simply using one object to describe another. "Types", as this kind of association is usually called, have been around probably forever.

In the Bible, water is very often used to represent the Spirit, smoke is most often associated with glory, or the prayers of the saints, fire is used to represent many things but it and doves are often used to describe the anointing of the Holy Spirit, particularly when directly associated with people. You get the idea. Even in the secular, dream interpretation very often uses "types" and "lists" to decipher why you might have recurring dreams involving tornadoes or water spouts. Again, this has some Biblical basis, though (as usual) the enemy has used counterfeits of this same concept in the occult. Don't let that discourage you from digging more into associations, just let it be a warning to ensure your source is Biblical.

In my humble opinion, most occult/psychic/paranormal activity or practice is a direct counterfeit of something believers can do through the Holy Spirit. Witch doctors are the worldly counterpart to Spirit-filled believers. The difference is the source and the purpose for the gifting. But, that's a conversation for another day.

Be blessed!

~M