A Tree Planted by the Waters

This tree looked as alive as any deciduous tree looks in the winter.  Big and beautiful, as far as I could tell from the outside, it was healthy.  Then the driving rain stripped off the bark and the moss and all that was left was a rotting mass of spongy decaying wood.  What had been cleverly concealed, was now plain.  This tree had been dying for a long time – it only looked alive.
 
The storms of life reveal who we are on the inside.  Our true colors show.  There is no longer any place to hide; no way to gloss over the utter devastation.  One’s character is fully exposed.  But for a child of King Jesus, being known by God and others is not meant to be a dreaded state of affairs.  For us, it is supposed to be the way we live life.  We recognize that every moment is lived in the sight of God and for His favor.  This truth of the constancy of His presence grows in our lives what that tree lacked: life, fruit, and rich fulfillment.
 
For you, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined.  You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs...We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.  – Psalms 66:10-12