The rebuilding
The rebuilding can be beautiful. The rebuilding can be fruitful. The rebuilding can be as exciting as the original building once was.
I mean, we see this on HGTV all the time! My daughter and I LOVE to watch shows where someone brings new life to an old home. We have even been able to get my husband to join us in watching! In fact, we have taken trips to check out the towns where two of “our shows” are filmed. In August we went to Waco, TX and in December we went to Laurel, MS. Why? Because there is something exciting about something that was once dead being brought back to life again! Where there was once chipped paint and broken floors we can see fresh color and a firm foundation. It proves to us that we can be made new too.
And we can
One of my favorites images of this in scripture is the olive tree. The tree itself is beautiful. The leaves bare two different colors of light green, and when the wind blows it actually shimmers. Olive trees bring barren fields to life with just a mild breeze. And so at first glance we might just see it as another “pretty face”. But oh no, it is not.
In fact, the olive tree is so much more
Let me tell about the roots of this pretty faced tree. When you begin to take in the full structure of the tree you will have some indication of the strength that lies beneath. Many olive trees are grown where the ground is rocky and hard. Most trees could not thrive where there wasn’t rich soil readily available to it’s tender roots. But the olive tree doesn’t let the rock stop it. No, its hearty roots begin to press into the hard surface and eventually bust through it, reaching deep into the ground to find the nutrients it needs to survive.
And other things that may put an end to a lesser tree do not even phase the olive tree. No sir. The olive tree is not affected by cold and frost – – or by summer heat and drought. In fact, when other trees die from dehydration the olive tree digs into it’s reserves and feeds itself. Wow, right? Yes, the olive tree has a system of minimizing water loss in plentiful times in preparation for the times of drought.
If this hasn’t blown your mind yet
Let me tell you that this tree is actually intelligent. It can choose how much fruit to produce at any given time. This tree knows when it is does not have enough in the reserves to give fruit out, so it withholds it in order to remain healthy and thriving in tough times. I’m not sure I’ve figured that one out yet, but the olive tree has.
It lives when the circumstances are not conducive to life
If, by some horrible chance, the olive tree is badly burned in a fire it can and will regenerate itself. You could actually cut the tree completely down to a stump and new sprouts will spring up. What’s more, the tree will bear fruit throughout the entire regeneration process. Let me say that again….IT WILL BEAR FRUIT THE ENTIRE TIME. It’s honestly mind blowing.
But what does this have to do with me and you?
Well, the Bible says this:
But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God’s faithful love forever and ever. I will praise You forever for what You have done. In the presence of Your faithful people, I will put my hope in Your name, for it is good
Psalm 52:8-9
I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God. You are like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God. And if we are, then we should be able to withstand any difficulty, any challenge or struggle. If we are like olive trees, we can make it through cold and frost, and total drought. We are wise enough to know that we need to read the Word of God daily so we can store it up and place it in reserves for when we need it to come back out. If we are like the olive tree we are wise enough to know when to give out and when to hold back…and wise enough to know that it is okay to hold back sometimes. If we are like the olive tree we are capable of regeneration when we have been completely devastated by fire or cut down to a stump. AND…not only can we regenerate, we can produce fruit the entire time. THE ENTIRE TIME.
Let me encourage you today
You have what it takes to make it through whatever you are walking through. You have the strength, the intelligence, the wherewithal to do what you have to do to stage a comeback. Just like the olive tree.
Check out Libbie’s book Five, the women in the genealogy of Jesus