THE DANCING WILLOW

My favorite tree in our yard took a hit last week. Around 1:40 early Monday morning, my husband woke me up to help stake down tomato plants that had toppled over and gather chairs that had flown all over our property. Not sure what kind of winds they were, but they were incredibly strong. It felt like they were going to blow us away.

When I woke up the next morning, I headed out early to avoid the intense heat we’ve been experiencing here in Iowa. I thought the main impact of the storm was the tree in our backyard, a river birch; but when I went to the front of our home, I quickly realized my beloved weeping willow tree was hit the hardest. My heart sank as I saw branches and debris scattered everywhere.

As I was picking up those precious limbs that lay there as a testament to the power of God’s mighty hand present in the winds that roared through our property, I heard His gentle voice of wisdom speaking over me. I could sit there and complain and lament over the limbs that had fallen, or I could thank God for the resilience of the tree I love so dearly.

In the Bible, the willow tree primarily symbolizes mourning, lamentation, and sorrow; however, it also represents resilience, adaptability and hope. Willow trees are known for their ability to grow and survive in challenging times. The oak tree is mighty and appears to be stronger; but when fierce winds blow, it will break. The willow, however, bends with the winds; and when the storm subsides, it’s able to stand tall once again.

Here’s another musing about my affinity for my weeping willow: When you get inside my tree, it looks like a complete mess. The trunk is strong, but limbs shoot off in all sorts of crazy directions. It’s twisted and gnarly and chaotic. Our lives can look that way at times, at least mine does. Maybe that’s why I feel a weird connection to this tree. Here’s a picture of my willow tree’s trunk:

What a mess, right!

As I kept pondering all of this, God’s gentle voice of wisdom reminded me that the limbs that were broken off were weaker than others. God’s sanctification process seeks to do that in our lives as well.

Sanctification is the lifelong transformation process we go through to become more and more like Christ. A huge part of that process requires us to let go of our sinful nature, the weaker parts of us, the hurts, habits and hangups that don’t align with God’s will and purpose for our lives.

The breaking has a purpose.

After filling my cart to overflowing, I stepped back and looked at my tree again from a distance. It stood tall and proud, like the same beautiful tree it had been the day before. There was a plethora of limbs ready to fill in the gaps left by the ones torn down by the fierce winds. It’s a beautiful reminder that we will get tossed and thrown about in this life, and sometimes we’re going to suffer losses. But when we allow God to get rid of the things that don’t serve us any longer and then take a step back and look at our lives the way God does, it’s beautiful.

And about the weeping thing, when you see my beloved weeping willow tree in person, you see its delicate branches reach down to the ground and sway gently back and forth in the wind. I believe it should be called a dancing willow because the wind works in and through it to give it glorious movement that I believe worships God. It’s as if it’s singing praises to its Creator all day long. The Bible tells us if we don’t praise Him even the rocks will cry out.

And the willows!

The Bible backs up this crazy dancing idea of mine when it says that God will turn our weeping into a joyous dance. Psalm 30:11 (NLT) says, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” If I’m willing to see it, my tree can be a delightful reminder that no matter what, I can worship God, and that worship will turn my sorrow into joy.

I’m learning that even though my love for Jesus is growing deeper and deeper every day, my life can be messy at times, and I struggle to always feel joyful.

Can you relate, my friend?

But when the wind catches me, when the Holy Spirit seizes my soul, that’s when God turns my mourning into dancing. I may be a mess inside, my life may be far from perfect; but I can learn a thing or two from the giant willow that stands guard in my front yard.

I can choose to bend like the willow, surrender to the messy parts of life, let God break off what He needs to, and allow the wind of the Holy Spirit to grab hold of my soul and dance!

Love and hugs,

Jill