C. H. Spurgeon was walking in the woods when someone asked him what he was looking for and Spurgeon replied, “metaphors and similes.” Sometimes we don’t even have to go looking for them; they come to us. That really is one of my favorite things about nature – it seems to be one giant, long spiritual illustration. For our family, this seems to occur every time we go to the mountains. We end up seeing or experiencing something that takes us right back to the Lord or a passage we have read in His Word.
We went hiking in the mountains this summer and we stayed in a cabin around 11,000 feet elevation. I don’t know much about mountains or areas of high elevations, but it seems I learn something new each time I visit them. For example, baking is often different in higher elevations. The air is certainly thinner. The UV exposure is higher. But something new I have observed in the higher elevations is the tree line. In the Midwest we don’t have a tree line, but in Colorado around 12,000 ft elevation it is very distinct.
The tree line (or timberline as it is also called) is the highest elevation that sustains trees. Above this elevation, no trees grow because they cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (extreme cold temperatures, extreme snowpack, high winds, or lack of available moisture).
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the tree line in the mountains, but it is amazing to me that there would be such a fine line – a boundary at which growth stops and is not allowed to continue any further. As I looked out over the landscape at all the strong Pine trees, Aspen trees, Spruce trees, and Fir trees, they were so healthy, thick, thriving, and growing in abundance. Yet above the tree line, the land was barren, void of trees, and full of rocks.
As I reflected on my journey with the Lord, I can remember times where I lived “above the tree line”. My environment was not conducive to growth. As a teenager, I was exposed to unsafe people, unstable homes, harmful elements, and evil things outside my control. Later on, I had exposed myself to places where I was not spiritually protected. I made friends with ungodly people and allowed their lifestyle to influence my choices.
Let me ask you something:
Is your environment conducive to your spiritual growth?
What are you exposing yourself to that may hinder your growth?
What harmful things are you allowing in your life?
In high elevations, the tree line boundary is seldom abrupt; it usually forms a transition zone. The tree line often appears well-defined, but it can be a more gradual transition. At the tree line, tree growth is often sparse, stunted, and deformed by wind and cold. Trees grow shorter and often at lower densities as they approach the tree line.
It’s the same way in our spiritual life. Our spiritual growth doesn’t go stagnant or decline abruptly. There is often a transition zone where we gradually move from thriving to just surviving.
And if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you can’t produce spiritual growth on your own. You can’t grow and thrive in an environment that doesn’t sustain you because then it would be up to you to keep yourself alive. You need help – which you find below the tree line.
I wanted to be like the person described in Psalm 1:3, “He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” But sadly, my environment was not suitable for growth. I needed to change some things. I needed to come back down below the tree line.
The first decision I made was to call out to the Lord for revival in my life. I prayed and asked Him to revive my faith and restore my love for Him and His Word. I wanted to depend solely on Him and give Him first place in my life. Then I began to seek Him more in His Word. I woke up earlier and spent time reading my Bible and studying the passages, seeking to understand the Lord and His ways more deeply. These changes led to heart change. The Lord had worked through these applications and tilled the soil of my heart, making it fertile for His Word to be planted, take root, grow and eventually bear fruit.
When you try in your own strength to grow and thrive without Christ, you are like a tree trying to grow above tree line. It just can’t happen. It’s not sustainable. You are too far from the Living Water – the Source of life. But when you plant your roots by the Living Water, Jesus Christ, you can thrive.
Jeremiah 17:7-8, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream, and does not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought, nor cease to yield fruit.”