This summer one of my favorite trees fell into the river. I have taken more than 30 pictures of this tree over the last four years. Half the time when I went by it, I almost couldn’t help myself, and I’d take another picture of it, knowing how many I already had. I loved the way it leaned out over the river, tall and majestic, dominating its corner. I have kayaked that particular stretch of river 38 times just in the last four years, so I am very familiar with it. Imagine my surprise when I came around the corner and the tree was gone. I actually gasped. How sad and barren its spot on the bank looked.
I guess I should have suspected it was not going to be there much longer by the way it was leaning. It was not standing straight like it must have grown. What made it start to lean? It looked so healthy. 
And most amazing of all to me is that it survived the flood last year. The banks of the river are littered with trees that were taken down during the flood. What in the world was able to take it down this year? Possibly the flood weakened it? A lightning strike? We did have a storm with strong winds a few days before I found it lying in the river, but it didn’t seem strong enough to have knocked it down. The trunk was split and splintered from the base up, so it did not just fall over because it was not anchored in the soil. It appears it did not have the internal strength it needed to stand in a storm? Another thing that amazed me was how fast it lost all of its leaves. It was only a two week 
period from when I last saw it standing tall and proud, full of leaves, to when I found it broken and barren of all but a few tiny spots of green. Some trees stay green for months, even years, after falling into the river.
And most amazing of all to me is that it survived the flood last year. The banks of the river are littered with trees that were taken down during the flood. What in the world was able to take it down this year? Possibly the flood weakened it? A lightning strike? We did have a storm with strong winds a few days before I found it lying in the river, but it didn’t seem strong enough to have knocked it down. The trunk was split and splintered from the base up, so it did not just fall over because it was not anchored in the soil. It appears it did not have the internal strength it needed to stand in a storm? Another thing that amazed me was how fast it lost all of its leaves. It was only a two week 
period from when I last saw it standing tall and proud, full of leaves, to when I found it broken and barren of all but a few tiny spots of green. Some trees stay green for months, even years, after falling into the river.
How many of us look good on the outside, but our insides are weak? It is impossible for us to tell what is inside someone else by looking at the outside. Often times, we don’t even know what is inside of ourselves! The storms and trials of life reveal what is inside.
I am reminded of a story I heard years ago about an older man encountering a teen in a church stairwell. The boy was bumped or knocked down by accident going up the stairs, and he cursed. When the teen realized the older gentleman heard him, he was embarrassed and said that he didn’t normally talk that way. The wise man took him to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, set it on a table, and then bumped the table. Water spilled. The lesson? “What is inside comes out when bumped.”
I want to be so filled with the Lord, that when I am “bumped,” He spills out. I pray that when what is inside me is revealed, people will only see Jesus. And when those trials of life come, I am so thankful that I do not have to rely on my ability to stand in the storm because I have the Holy Spirit on the inside. He alone makes me strong. I have no strength of my own, but He is my strong tower (Pr. 18:10).
Beautifully done. This is great.
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