Okay, so I expected Smokey Mountain National Park to be good, but I kept my expectations low because I didn’t want to drive all the way here and be disappointed. Why would I think that way? Why would I be disappointed, you might ask?
It’s because I’ve seen amazing places. The Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone are a handful of the biggest highlights. When I went to those places, I left wondering, will I ever be as amazed as I was there?
Pleasantly, the answer is yes. The Smokey Mountains have exceeded expectations. They are just amazing in a different way. For instance, the mountain formations are unique, the clouds hover in the mountain valleys all the time and I’ve never been in a hardwood forest that is so vast and feels so old, with endless giant trees.
The first scripture that came to mind as we drove along a valley road beside the gorgeous Little River, was Psalm 1. Specifically, verses 1-3,
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
When I told Kendall, she then read the whole Psalm in the van. It was a nice moment.
I just kept seeing amazing tree after amazing tree on the edge of the river with half of their exposed roots descending into the water, the other half firmly planted in the deep earth of the bank. And I thought, God is telling me that I can be like those trees when I delight in His word and His ways, when I know it and cherish it in my heart, my life will be full of prosperity.
And those last two words of verse three, he prospers, in the Hebrew text is saleah, which most literally means, to cleave, penetrate and then advance. It’s a picture of cutting down a tree with an axe, except you’re the axe and the tree is anything that you face in life.
Someone might say, “What about the martyrs, they didn’t seem to prosper!” And that’s a big part of mankind’s problem in their thinking, including much of the church. Death is not defeat to a child of God; Death is the doorway to the victory that Jesus won for us. Death is an escape from this life that we hang onto as tight as we can because in our limited thinking and imagination and personal experience, we just can’t wrap our heads around something better than the best of life we can imagine here. The Apostle Paul said it best when he said in Philippians 1:21,
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
And the Psalmist tells us that to truly live and therefore, truly prosper in the true form of prosperity, we will know and live by God’s word, which is also a very good definition of what it means to express our love for God.
This week, seek God. Seek out the inspiration of Scripture in the world around you. Scripture will come to your mind if Scripture is your delight and if you read and meditate upon it often enough for it have a chance to take hold of you. It will only benefit you, so do yourself a favor and spend more time in it in reading and thoughtful meditation. And you will become the tree firmly planted by streams of water.
God bless you all!
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
