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Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were
discussing
their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, 'Someday I hope
to
be a
treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious
gems. I
could be decorated with
intricate carving and everyone would see
the
beauty.'
Then the second tree said, 'Someday I
will be a mighty
ship. I will take
Kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners
of
the world.
Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my
hull.'
Finally the third
tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest
and
straightest Tree in the forest. People will see me on top
of the
hill
and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and
how
close to
them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time
and
people will always remember me.'
After
a few years of praying
that their dreams would come true, a group
of woodsmen came upon the trees.
When
one came to the first tree he
said, 'This looks like a strong tree, I
think I should be able to sell
the
wood to a carpenter, 'and he began cutting
it down. The tree was
happy, because he knew that the carpenter
would make
him into a treasure
chest.
At the second tree the woodsman said,
'This
looks like a strong tree. I
should be able to sell it to the shipyard.'
The second tree was happy
Because
he knew he was on his way to becoming a
mighty ship.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree,
the tree was
frightened
because he knew that if they cut him down, his dreams would not
come
true.
One of the woodsmen said, 'I don't need any special wood
quality
from my tree, I'll take this one,' and he
cut it down.
When
the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed
box for
animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This
was not at
all what he had
prayed for.
The second tree was cut and made into a small
fishing boat. His dreams
of being
a mighty ship and carrying kings had come
to an end.
The third tree was cut into large timber
and left in a
pile of lumber,
alone in the dark...his dreams of being the tallest tree,
reaching
toward
heaven were gone.
The years went by, and the
trees forgot about their dreams.
Then
one day, a man and woman came to
the barn. She gave birth and they
placed the baby in the hay in the feed
box
that was made from the first
tree. The man wished that he could have made a
crib for the
baby, but
this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the
importance of this
event and knew that
it had held the greatest treasure of
all time.
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat
made from
the second
tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out
on
the
water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was
strong
enough to keep the men safe. The men woke
the sleeping man, and He
stood
and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew
that
it
had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone
came and got the third tree. It was
carried through the
streets as the people
mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came
to a stop,
the man was
nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die
at the top of a hill. When
Sunday
came, the tree came to realize that it
was strong enough to stand at
the top of the hill and be as close
to God
as was possible, because Jesus had
been crucified on it..
The moral of this story is
that when things don't
seem to be going your
way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you
place
your trust in
Him, God will give you great gifts.
Each of the
trees got what they wanted, just
not in the way they had
imagined.
We
don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that
His
Ways are
not our ways, but His ways are always best.
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