Tip of My Iceberg

We have a massive live oak tree in our back yard. It was planted there as a spindly five-foot sapling when we bought our home twenty-nine years ago. It has put up with the craziness of our Florida weather, existing through hurricane after hurricane,

When Hurricane Charlie came through in 2004, we were warned that many of our local trees, because of our sandy soil, wouldn’t tolerate the high winds and tornadoes. With Charlie, we lost hundreds of live oak trees, whose roots grow wide rather than deep because of our high water table and soil composition. We were grateful twenty years ago that our tree held its ground.

In the past twenty years, we’ve had a variety of hurricanes that have spawned more tornadoes than we can remember. Milton, the latest, gave rise to over one hundred tornadoes as it moved through our state, Helene before that wasn’t as compromising, but between the two, our ground has been saturated and the strong winds could have pushed it over as if it was a mere twig.

But it held its ground.

That tree has been a reminder of what true resilience is. When it’s battered by wind and rain, it still stands. When the ground is saturated beyond its capacity to hold any more liquid, that tree has persevered through the worst environmental circumstances thrown at it.

I wish I had that kind of durability.

I can be tough, but that’s a choice, and it generally involves someone or something I’m really passionate about. Weathering all the storms of life with the solid sturdiness of our tree isn’t something that comes naturally or easily to me. I recognize my weaknesses, where I crash under stress. Too often when I’m overwhelmed, I’ll just keep on moving, doing whatever needs to be done so I don’t have to think about the hard stuff. Like Dory in “Finding Nemo”, I just keep swimming.

It’s a lot easier to blame shift or run away than deal with problems as they arise. When we’re confronted with challenges, dealing in a way that’s honorable and wise can be difficult, especially if we feel at fault or at risk.

Or if something doesn’t go the way we expected.

Joseph was the eleventh of twelve sons born to Jacob, and he was his father’s favorite. Which didn’t stand well with his brothers. They couldn’t stand his arrogance and cocky attitude which set him at odds with the others.

They determined to do something about it; they sold him to merchants headed to Egypt, where he was first enslaved and then imprisoned for thirteen years, all due to misunderstandings and the deceit of others.

He was seventeen when he was taken from his family; thirteen years later he was redeemed when he proved himself worthwhile to Pharaoh.

During this time, his family and all the others in the land of Canaan were experiencing extreme famine. Joseph had helped Egypt prepare for this for God had given him a dream telling him the famine would come and how to develop a plan to provide for the Egyptians and all the people in the surrounding countries.

When his brothers showed up to get food for their families and realized their brother was in charge, they were afraid he’d pay them back for what they’d done.

“But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result–the survival of many people.’” Genesis 50:19-20

Joseph had many harrowing things happen to him, but he never quit. He never stopped believing God could make something better out of the mess life had become. His resilience made it possible for many to weather the famine and other issues.

Helene and Milton reflect the many storms in life that threaten each of us every day. Some are worse than others. We need to face each one and commit to standing our ground, not being afraid of what is happening, but being secure in knowing God can bring good out of every storm in life.

What challenge are you facing today?