I discovered something amazing when our family hiked and camped in Sequoia National Park.
“Whenever most people see a forest fire, they automatically think about all of the trees and bushes that are being destroyed. After the fire is over, the landscape looks like a blackened scene of destruction. But did you know that some plants and trees actually need fires in order to survive? A number of plants rely on fire to release their seeds. One example is the jack pine. Their cones are very thick and hard. They are literally glued shut with a strong resin. These cones are referred to serotinous, which means late blooming. Serotinous cones can hang on a pine tree for years without opening up to release seeds. When a fire sweeps through a forest of jack pines, the heart from the fire melts the resin, allowing the cones to open up and release the seeds. Perhaps one of the most famous trees that have serotinous cones is the giant redwood or sequoia of California. Towing up to nearly 300 feet tall and 50 feet in diameter, the giant sequoia are the world’s largest trees in total volume. Their cones contain up to 200 seeds and may take 2 years to mature. One matured, they will remain in the cone and await a forest fire. The heat from the fire causes the cones to open and release their seeds.” (http://creationevolution.com/2012/06/plants-that-need-fire-to-survive/)
What does this have to do with our life of faith? Some of the seeds God has placed inside of us take a long time to mature and are only released when a forest fire sweeps through our lives, melting that which binds us, freeing the spiritual seeds waiting in our soul. Tough our lives may look like a blackened scene of desolation after painful flames rip through our ordinary life, seeds of new life are dropped, ready to grow strong, mammoth, majestic.
Some of life’s most valuable lessons are learned only through hardship. The seeds released in us during difficult times often grow to become our largest, most valuable gift to the world. Mark 4:30-32 (MSG) says it this way: “How can we picture God’s kingdom? What kind of story can we use? It’s like a pine nut. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go, yet once it is planted it grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it.”
Let’s entrust our life to the One bigger than maturing seeds, painful fires, and Sequoia trees.
