WHEN James Garfield (President of the U.S. – 1881) was principal of Hiram College in Ohio, a father asked him if the course of study could be simplified so that his son might be able to go through by a shorter route. “Certainly.” Garfield replied, “But it all depends on what you want to make of your boy. When God wants to make an oak tree, He takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash he requires only two months.” We are producing too many squashes and not enough oak trees in our day. (Source Unknown).
WE live in an ATM society. We get and want our news and information in sound bites and social media, seek instant access to all sorts of things from food to entertainment, looking for quick fixes and easy solutions to our hearts desires. We are an impatient lot, we want what we want, and we want it now. I actually saw a t-shirt recently being worn by a young girl that had emblazoned across the front, “I want what I want, live with it!”
ONCE counseling an individual dealing with personal struggles, we were making marked progress when he asked in a quiet contemplative moment, “When will this be over?” To his dismay I answered, “never.” “Oh yes, you will by faith overcome this particular sin and struggle (1John 5:4), but if you are simply looking for a quick fix to get back to life as usual, the door you have opened and the road that you have embarked upon will never end, that is if you choose to press-on and not pull back.”
THAT door that he had opened was the door that exposed his own heart deceitfulness and need. The path that he had found was of redemptive recovery unto and into Christ. But the journey had only started as well as the process of further exposure of need and deeper discoveries of grace. Each day, yea moment, required that on-going faith decision to continue to work out [his] own salvation with fear and trembling; with the sure knowledge that it is God who works in [him] both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12-13) Would he follow Paul’s example and imperative to continue without ceasing to press on, that [he] may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of [him]? Would he continue to forget those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus? (Phil 3:12-14)
AS I explained to this young man – the Lord is faithful and will deliver him in the mercies of Christ from each encounter of opposition, both within and without (1Cor 10:13). But as He exposes and deals with one area of sin and shortcoming, then will come another, and another, as the Master Craftsman works away to bring us to the intended image of Christ. As Paul writes: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. (Gal 4:19) This is the process of sanctification and character building into the stature of Christ.
BEING once asked that if God knows all who are His and are going to come to Him in faith, upon that point of salvation and conversion, why does He not just call them home and be done with it? The answer of course is that our heavenly Father desires more of His children then mere birth; observe Rom 8:29, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. As an ole’ preacher once said on this verse, “The Father loves the Son so much, he wants the heavens filled with others just like Him!” It is a simple truth, but there is more to it than that. What father holding an infant son or daughter in his arms does not dream of all that he holds in his arms, what is, can, and will be? That parent looks to the day when that child takes the first step, utters their first words, grows, matures, and reaches their true self and personhood. What hopes and expectation resides within a fathers heart, also knowing the trials and difficulties that will most assuredly be faced and hopefully overcome to an ever strengthening of heart and soul in order to get to an ever increasing depth of character. It is said that the worse place to develop character is in heaven where there are no hard choices and moral lessons to be learned. Even our Lord and Savior learned obedience through suffering during his earthly walk (Heb. 5:8), thus leaving us an example of moral certainty and necessity.
BUT You – O Lord, how long? “How long?” “How long” is oft repeated in Scripture. We cry out “how long” wondering how long we must endure? The answer to that question is one that aggravates child and all being exercised in patience. The answer is, “As long as it takes.” If “God wants to make an oak tree, He takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash he requires only two months.” Isaiah proclaimed of old:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isa 61:1-3)
THE trees of righteousness in this passage are literally “oaks of righteousness.” This is what is needed in every generation, every heart and every soul, “oaks of righteousness;” they alone shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. (Isa 6:4) If you have a Bible close at hand, read the entire text of Isaiah 61. Possibly your text will footnote that this is the prophecy and promise fulfilled in Christ and all that is centered in Him. See how it ends:
My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isa 61:10-11)
…as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Lessons from the Garden – It takes time, diligent, and patient effort to grow Oaks of Righteousness; but Oaks of Righteousness are what we need.
In the wondrous blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15 & Job 2:10
