“And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.” (Ezekiel 17:24). An interesting thing about trees is that they often lead much richer and more interesting lives after they have died. A living tree nearly always spends its entire life rooted to one spot. But the high trees that have been brought low by the feller’s axe and green wood that has become dry with age are given a second life through the hands of the Carpenter. A living tree is confined to a single basic shape, but wood from a dead tree can be carved and worked into hundreds of different things, from a simple wooden cup to an elaborately inlaid treasure chest and everything in between. One tree can be made into the door to the house and the beams that hold up the roof and the planks that make up the floor. We may think that sacrificing our life is the end of everything, but if we allow the Master Carpenter to build His kingdom with the sanded and finished planks of our old lives, then He will exalt the low tree and cause the dry tree to flourish. We spend so much of our lives trying to be the very best tree that we can be, but when we have grown all that we can, it is time to surrender to the Lord the timbers we have prepared so that He can make something or many somethings from the pieces of our old lives. It will be painful at first, but when we get a glimpse at all of the millions of different and wonderful things that the Master Carpenter will make from us, we will admit that He really will cause the dry tree to flourish.
