the oak and the squirrel

This morning I was thinking about a big oak tree that grew in the back yard of our old house in Michigan City, Indiana. Every Fall, this tree showered our yard, our neighbor’s yard, and the alley next to our house with acorns. A sizeable community of squirrels were the beneficiaries of this abundant harvest each year.

Today, I imagined that oak tree when she was just a young sapling. Not too many branches; not too many leaves; no acorns. I could hear the squirrels badgering her as they raced to and fro around her undeveloped trunk, preparing frantically for the long winter: “Don’t just stand there . . . do something! Winter is coming. You’re going to starve. You’ll never get anywhere like that. What are you waiting for?”

And then my mind shifts to another scene from the book of 2 Chronicles. A large army is bearing down on the small nation of Judah. King Jehoshaphat knows that the situation is hopeless. He calls the people of Judah together to seek the Lord, praying this prayer: “We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Then, the text says that all of Judah just stood there before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children. They just stood there. I can hear the grumbling from the “squirrels” in the ranks: “Don’t just stand there . . . do something! The enemy is coming. We’re going to die. We’ll never win like this. What are we waiting for?”

But as they just stand there, waiting, the Lord sends His word through a prophet: “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.”

This statement is a bright yellow flashing arrow pointing me toward the gospel. It is, I think, the most essential message of the Bible: the battle belongs to the Lord. And yet, for some reason, it is the most difficult concept for me to truly grasp and apply.

Most of the time I find myself running around like a squirrel, looking for an acorn, carrying it to some hidden spot, stashing it there, and then racing off to start all over again. Motion . . . constant motion and activity. And all this while the oak just stands there . . . and grows bigger and stronger. Each year she spreads her branches wider, casting her harvest of acorns across an ever expanding territory. Who does the squirrel nourish? Himself and maybe his offspring. Who does the oak nourish? Countless numbers of creatures big and small; by just standing there.

As I enter 2008, I am praying Psalm 1 for myself: that, delighting in God’s word (His inspired, life-giving word that is revealed and applied in me by His indwelling Holy Spirit), I would be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.

Deliver me from the “squirrel-race,” gracious Father. Teach me that my work is to wait upon you, like an oak planted by a stream. Give me patience to stand firm and hold my position on the ground where you have planted me. Strengthen me to resist those voices that would rebuke me, mock me, ridicule me, threaten me, insult me into thinking that the battle is really mine; that it is up to me to produce the fruit; that it is up to me to change my own or someone else’s circumstances; that it is up to me to generate the plan; that it is up to me to supply the results. Convince me, merciful Father, that the battle is Yours. Teach me to let you fight for me. Teach me to wait for the fruit that you will surely bring forth in its season. Amen.