This is a re-post from October 13, 2011……

A story was once told….

“I need oil,” said an ancient monk, so he planted an olive sapling. “Lord,” he prayed, “it needs rain that its tender roots may drink & swell. Send gentle showers.” And the Lord sent gentle showers. “Lord”, prayed the monk, “my tree needs sun. Send sun. I pray thee.” And the sun shone, gilding the dripping clouds. “Now frost, my Lord, to brace its tissues, ” cried the monk. And behold, the little tree stood sparkling with frost, but at evening it died.

Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk, & told his strange experience. “I, too, planted a little tree,” he said, “and see! It thrives well. But I entrust my tree to its God. He who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or means. “Lord, send what it needs,” I prayed, “storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou has made it & Thou dost know.”

At times we each face circumstances in life that are beyond our control. They are beyond our control in the way they are happening, in the way they are unfolding, & surely the outcome. There is not a single thing we can do to change the situation. We just go through.

 “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green,and they never stop producing fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT).

May we be like the monk, trusting that God “dost know”.

 

I linked at Wordless Wed and Winsome Wed and Wed. Prayer Girls and Wed. Wanderings .