Most mornings I must load up all three kids to drop just one off at school. Yesterday my husband had a later start than usual for work and so I was able to leave the girls with him and just take Jones. This means on the way home from school I had a nice quiet car. I began to pray for the marriage of someone that I know. As I prayed God gave me a wonderful visual.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with Ecclesiastes 4:12 that says, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” God brought this verse to my memory as I was praying. What I saw was two trees planted firmly in the ground. A rope (Christ) stretched around them as to move the two closer together, but it cannot. The trees may bend, but they are unwavering. The roots run too deep. If this continues then the trees will snap and break.
But soon God uproots the trees. Rather than replanting them, He plants Himself. A large sturdy tree that will never break. He has taken two ropes and twisted them around His tree instead. The rope intertwines as it twists around this large beautiful tree, but as is the way of life, stress is put on the rope. It begins to fray and come apart at the seams. However, if you put fire to the rope, it will burn it and keep it from coming apart. The rope is now stronger and will always bare the mark of being put to the fire.
I received this vision as I was praying for someone else, but it was fitting to my own marriage as well. For so long we tried to have Christ do what we thought was best, but in our stubbornness, nothing ever happened. It wasn’t until He uprooted us, and we had no choice but to wrap our lives around Him. We did fray in the stressful times. We came apart at the seams. Thankfully He held the fire to us and we came out stronger. You can see the scorch marks as they will never fade. At times we went in different directions, but when two ropes are wrapped around one tree, it’s inevitable that they should meet again.
How often do we try to switch places with God? We were not ever meant to be the tree that was planted in the ground. He was never meant to be the rope. Let go. Allow yourself to be uprooted. Allow God to take His rightful place as the sturdy, unmovable tree. His roots will reach farther than ours ever could. Allow Him to transform you into the rope. Yes, you may fray. You may stretch too thin and begin to feel yourself grow weaker, but He will hold the fire to you. The fraying will not only stop, but you will now be stronger. Don’t hide the burn mark in shame, but rather show it for all to see. A beautiful testimony of God’s faithfulness!
Sunshine and Whispers 