Trees provide fresh air, shade and beauty. They also serve as sources of food and sometimes have medicinal uses. You will do everything to preserve a tree that provides you with all of these.
And there are aspects of our lives that are just like a tree. Your marriage/home is like a tree that shelters you. You do not know the value of a happy home until you lose it.
Your business is like a tree. It puts food on your table, brings in the income and gives you financial security. Your career, ministry or mission is like a tree that gives you that sense of fulfilment and contribution.
But imagine that you return from work to discover that a cherished tree in your house is cut down by someone or government authorities.
Consider the pain this brings to the heart. Think of the abrupt end that has been brought to all the benefits and blessings that you get from the tree. Think of the investment made to grow the tree to maturity. And suddenly all of that is wasted.
And this is the condition of many this season. There used to be “a tree” in your life that used to shelter you. It brings you joy but something happened and it was cut down. You lost it. It’s gone! And the result of this loss is evident in your life.
You had a growing relationship with God but something happened and now you struggle to keep your appointments with God. You used to have this gift that has been a blessing to many but it is no longer there. You used to have a thriving business but now you are experiencing a dry season.
Your marriage was heaven on earth but right now it has been from one crisis to another. Your relationship with your spouse has been very chaotic.
You hoped that you will get married to that brother until that evening he left you hanging. Now you are stranded and confused. Your ministry used to be the talk of the town but now everything has gone down the drain.
Wouldn’t know what tree is it in your life was cut down. What did you lose? Did you lose an investment, a job, a ministry or a relationship? Hear God’s word!
“For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease. Though its root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.” Job 14:7-9.
There Is Hope!
One thing that should never happen to you is to fall into despair or a state of hopelessness. No matter what is happening or what has happened, God’s word says there is hope.
Job himself was evidence that trees that were cut down can grow again. Within a short time, he lost virtually everything. All his children died. His farmlands and animals were destroyed. He lost the trust of his wife and friends and above all, he lost his health. Job was completely grounded. He was reduced to nothing. All his “trees” were cut down.
Despite all, Job didn’t lose hope. He believed that all that he lost can be restored. He believed that the stumps of his life will bud and thrive again. And that’s exactly what happened. Job grew again.
“…the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. Job 42:10-13
I do not think your case is as bad as that of Job. This is why you cannot give up. You cannot lose hope because that “tree” will grow again.
At the Scent of Water
This growth is going to happen “at the scent of water.” The regeneration of the dead stump is going to happen because God is going to send you water.
“Though its root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.” Job 14:8-9.
God is sending you “scents of water” this month. It will come in the form of ideas, resources and opportunities. You will meet people this month who will significantly contribute to the restoration of everything you lost.
Be sensitive to the “scents of water” God will be sending your way. You need the grace to perceive and recognize it since the water will first come in the form of “scents.”
Most of the time, the problem is not the absence of opportunity but the lack of sensitivity to identify it.
I pray that God will give you the ability to identify it the next time God sends you the scents of water.
Budding with Branches!
I also noticed that what God is bringing back to you will not come in the same measure it was lost.
God rarely restores a man to the same level he was when he lost something; He will usually exceed the level he was when the tragedy happened.
God said your marriage, ministry, business or whatever tree was cut down “will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.” In other words, it was just a business that you lost but when it sprouts again, it will have many branches.
Did you remember Samson?
He was that invincible threat to the Philistines, the enemies of the Jews at the time. The Philistines did everything to conquer him but he was indomitable until Delilah came into His life.
The enemy studied the weakness of Samson and capitalized on it. After pestering Samson for a very long time, he divulged the secret of his power to Delilah who invited barbers that shaved off the seven locks of hair on his head. A hero was miniaturized to zero.
This is what sin can do. It doesn’t matter who you are, one day the secret sin in your life will get you if you do not repent.
That you are getting away with sin doesn’t mean you are getting away with it. Each walk down the road of iniquity weakens you spiritually until the last straw that will break the camel’s back.
If you don’t believe me, look up how the enemy eventually got Samson.
Samson’s eyes were gouged out. He made sport for the audience of his enemy. But in the confines of the enemy, the Bible says,
“Howbeit the hair of his head began to GROW AGAIN after he was shaven.” Judges 16:22.
This is what God is going to do for you this season. Remember that the seven locks of hair on his head were the secret of his unusual strength. The hair was the reason he was indomitable, unconquerable and invincible.
Yours may not be physical strength like that of Samson but there is something you used to have that is a source of strength to you. There is something good you used to do before. There used to be this thing that made people celebrate and respect you. It made you unique but right now just like that of Samson, it has been taken away. It is shaven. It is cut off. It could be a talent, a gift, a relationship, a business or an investment. This thing made you powerful but it is now gone.
You used to fast. You used to spend quality time with God. You used to have usual access to God’s word. You used to win souls for Christ. You used to have a thriving business, a growing ministry. You used to be very brilliant.
But like Samson, that thing has left. The hair has been shaven. You don’t have that strength anymore.
Even when you tried to do it, you know it is no longer as potent as it used to be. The power, the energy, the aura, the unction and the essence of that thing is gone. You now exert so much energy on something you used to do effortlessly.
But here is the good news, your “hair” will GROW AGAIN. God didn’t suspend the growth of Samson’s hair because of his past mistakes, it grew again. You shouldn’t allow whatever led to the loss of your “hair” to keep you back.
“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth;…” (Isaiah 43:18-19).
Despite the gruesome condition that Samson found himself in, his hair grew again and he went on to kill more Philistines in one day than he did in all his life put together. And this is what you should expect as the Lord will be causing your “hair,” your “tree” to grow again.
Wouldn’t know that thing that is lost, shaven or cut down, I want you to look at it today and command it to GROW AGAIN! Speak to that grace, ability, gift, talent and anointing that you used to have to GROW AGAIN! Let your ministry GROW AGAIN! Let your prayer life GROW AGAIN! Let your business GROW AGAIN! Let your marriage GROW AGAIN!
I join my faith with yours today and I say to you, GROW AGAIN in the name of Jesus!
Take this word as the scent of water from the Lord that will be used to initiate your revival. I also want you to thrive on the prophetic significance of this season. It is springtime! The dry season came with its consequences; plants withered for lack of rain, lush and green fields lost their beauty. But it’s springtime and the earth has a chance to replenish itself. Rain is falling again. Dry and dormant herbs are budding and bringing out new leaves. Arable lands which were burnt, open and empty are being reoccupied with new plants. Farmers are going back to the fields, getting their seeds ready because it is springtime.
It is springtime for you too! You will sprout again. You will bud. You will bring forth like a plant. Your tender shoot shall not cease. You will be fruitful.
You will GROW AGAIN!
Your friend,
P.S. Download a PDF version of this message here.
P.S. Download past issues of The Working Word here.
For more information on The Working Word, kindly follow this link or follow us on Facebook