My Father, Maker of the trees.

Matt. 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”“Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

A few years ago a young man, Eric Irivuzumugabe, writes a book “My Father, Maker of the trees.” The book is about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide between the Hutus and the Tutsis and how he survived those 100 days during which one million people were massacred, and as a sixteen-year-old boy, Eric and some of his family members climbed Cypress trees and remained there for fifteen days with little food or water. Eric tells a story of horror and tragedy but also one of healing and hope. Forgiveness and redemption.

(I found the following extremely interesting about Cypress trees: “Biblically, the Cypress tree stands tall. In the Christian tradition, the Cypress is a symbol of death, life and resurrection, and signifies the heavens calling. With its column-like shape that reaches toward the heavens, much like a church spire, the Cypress has deep-rooted relationship with the heavenly realm and divine light. The evergreen leaves have become a symbol of resurrection and new life. “Cypress trees will grow where now there are briers; myrtle trees will come up in place of thorns. This will be a sign that will last forever, a reminder of what I, the Lord, have done.”-Isaiah 55:13)

One morning, recently, God told me to read Psalm 1. As I read it, especially verses 2 and 3, I saw a picture of what can only be found in heaven as I have never seen anything like it on earth. It was a picture of a beautiful, tall tree of different colors (light pinks, blues, greens,etc.) planted next to a river of crystal clear fluid which looked like water but was not the same type of water we know. As I thought of the picture, what popped up in my spirit was: Life! Kingdom! Growing tall and strong! The following was what I was reading when I saw this picture… “Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.” (Msg)

What came to mind was that when planting a tree, as we know and as with any other plant, it depends on what we feed it. It’s not about the tree, rather it is about what it takes in.

The urgency to feed on the Word daily is so great!! We need to eat of the living Bread, of Christ in order to grow. Ask yourself this very logical question: If we were made by God, to His image, His children…well then our true “food” and what makes us flourish can only be found in His “God breathed Word”, in His Son, in Jesus Christ. Right? John1:1,14…In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth.” Matt.26:26 “During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples: Take, eat. This is My body…” Daily we can eat of Jesus through His Word. He has “fresh Bread” prepared for us each day. And what was meant for today will only be good today. Tomorrow has new worries and challenges. New Bread. The Bible says in 2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I spent 9 years volunteering at a Old Age Home once a week (because God told me to and because I absolutely love the elderly), and during my time there I made many “friends” with many interesting tales and stories, as I am sure you can imagine. Oom Giel was a missionary for many years and had a great passion for the Lord which I admired. He loved nature and was a farmer at heart and God used nature to speak to him. I will never forget how Oom Giel once spoke about “eating the Word” but also meditating on it. He spoke about cows rechewing their food twice in order to digest it properly. Cows spend nearly eight hours out of every day rechewing their cud (small balls of food). In the same way we should meditate on what we read until it becomes an absolute revelation in our hearts. Josh 1:8 tells us “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Oom Giel also told about working on a farm as a young man many years ago. He tells about the time when there was a tick infestation on the donkeys. He used to cut a certain type of plant and rub it on the donkey’s skins to try to get rid of the ticks and though some of them fell off it didn’t really solve the problem. So he came up with a new idea. He took that same plant and cut it into little pieces and then mixed it with the donkey feed. After he fed it to them, a few hours later, he started working the donkeys until they were soaked with sweat and then, 90% of the ticks fell off. The plant went through the donkey’s system, into its blood, into the sweat and the ticks didn’t like that at all. He compared this with reading the Bible. He said its one thing to read the Word, it’s another to rechew, to meditate, to work it, to put it to action. Until it is so worked into your system that whatever ticks (lies of the enemy) is still attached to you will just fall off by itself. The focus is not the “ticks”. The focus is the Feed. The Bread.

Ps.119:16,35 “I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word…Make me walk in the path of Your Commandments, for I delight in it.”

Ezek.47:12 puts it so beautifully… “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food, their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the Sanctuary.” Sanctuary speaking of intimacy with Jesus. He then gave me Mark 6:31 “Jesus said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’”

At this sanctuary, this deserted place where we find rest in Jesus, in eating from Him, enjoying fellowship with Him… we realize our stability is no longer in our job/car/bank account/electric fence around our house…. no, our stability is found in Him. In His Word. What we eat is what we shall become.

And then He said we will be like Jeremiah 1 describes “...For behold, I have made you this day
A fortified city and an iron pillar… They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you….’ ”.

Eric writes in his book about his thoughts as he and his family (what was left of them) hesitantly climbed out of their trees, realizing the genocide has come to an end. “As we began this walk toward freedom, I was gripped with the reality: I really survived! I turned back toward the trees and saw how beautiful they were, and I pondered how significant they had become to me. Before the genocide, they graced my hills as shelter for animals, not for human life. I was beginning to believe that perhaps God planted the trees to take care of a scared, helpless sixteen-year-old boy like me. When I reached the road and could no longer see the trees, I missed them. For fifteen days of fighting off death, with little food or water, they had fed me life. If God gave such trees a purpose on earth, I thought, then maybe my life matters to Him as well.” Today Eric is the founder of Humura Ministries, a Rwandan organization that supports orphans of genocide, through which he ministers to hundreds of fatherless children in need of hope.