03/27/2004: "Under The Tree"

By Carol J. Warren

There was a little girl who lived under a very large spreading oak tree. She lived in a small tent by herself. But really she wasn’t alone because the Lord talked with her all the time. She wasn’t afraid because she knew that He would take care of her no matter what. The large oak tree’s branches offered her protection from the strong winds and storms and even from the heat of the day. Yes it was safe under her big tree and she loved to be there near the Lord.

One day a man came into the forest. He seemed to be lost. He asked the little girl if she would lead him to the other side of the forest. He said that he could find his way from there if she would just help him that far.

The little girl knew the forest well. Guiding this man through the forest seemed like the right thing to do, so she said she would take him. She led him easily through the forest to the other side, she knew exactly where to go and all the shortest trails. It wasn’t long before they reached the other side of the forest. The man thanked her and went on his way.

But strangely enough as she walked back through the forest to her where she lived, the forest seemed somehow scary to her now. Every shadow seemed like a wild animal waiting to pounce on her. There seemed to be something out to get her behind every tree. Soon she began to run letting the briars and the tree limbs scrape her arms and legs. Finally exhausted she made it to the safety of her little home under the tree.

She got a drink of water and calmed herself. She wondered why she had been so frightened; the forest never frightened her before. But as she sat beside her tent there too things seemed different. How is it that she never noticed how flimsy her tent was? Why it wouldn’t take a very big animal to knock it over or even claw their way through to the inside where she slept. “That’s terrible,” thought the little girl, “I could be eaten alive in my sleep.

So the little girl took her pillow and began to climb the tree. It would be safe up high in the tree where the wild animals couldn’t get to her. She was so very tired. It had been a long hard day. But as she lay there on the tree limb all she could think about was falling. She didn’t know which she was more afraid of, falling or wild animals on the ground. So she stayed where she was. It was miserably uncomfortable and she didn’t sleep at all because she was afraid if she fell asleep she would fall.

Finally in the morning she came down out of the tree. She was achy, sore and very tired. She wanted to build a fire to cook some breakfast but she was afraid it would get out of control and burn up the forest with her in it. Just about that time the Lord came by. He was very cheerful.
“Good morning little one.” He called smiling as He walked into her little camp. “You look tired, what happened?”

“I am tired.” She said whining. “I slept in the tree last night. Now I am sore all over and I didn’t get any sleep at all because I was sure that if I fell asleep I would fall to the ground and die.”

“Why did you sleep in the tree?” the Lord asked.

“Because I was afraid to sleep on the ground.” She said in a whiny voice. “Did you ever notice how flimsy my tent is? Why any wild animal could claw right through it and tear me to bits in my sleep. Why didn’t you give me a safer and stronger place to live?” She asked with tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of Him being so negligent of her.

The Lord threw back His head and laughed. The little girl was so startled by it she almost fell backwards. “The reason this tent is fine,” said the Lord, “is because it is not your protection, I am. Didn’t it seem a little unusual to you that you were never afraid before but now you are afraid of everything?” The Lord asked. “You used to trust Me.”

The little girl had not thought of it that way. Why it did seem like she was afraid of everything, her dear forest, her home, even the very tree that sheltered her. “Oh Lord what’s wrong with me?” asked the little girl frightened that she was frightened at everything, “Am I sick or something?” she asked.

“You know I said that I am your protection,” said the Lord seriously now, “but I cannot protect you if you do not listen to Me or ask Me what to do.”

“What do you mean?” asked the little girl

“That man that came by yesterday,” He said. “You didn’t ask Me if you were suppose to lead him through the forest. It just seemed like a nice thing to do, so you did it. But he was sent by the enemy to deceive you and hurt you.”

“But he seemed like such a nice man,” the little girl said defending herself. “And he just wanted me to lead him through the forest.”

“I know that is what he said,” said the Lord, “But don’t you think the enemy knows to send someone that looks nice and acts nice so you will be more likely to help him. And don’t you think the enemy knows that you are a sucker for anyone that needs help. But the truth of the matter is you are supposed to ask Me about everything before you do it. Had you asked Me I could have warned you.”

“Oh no,” said the little girl, “I can see it now but I didn’t realize it then. What must I do to make things right?”

“First repent for doing things without consulting Me, then ask Me to remove the fear and I will.” The Lord said pointing to her back. There to the little girls horror was something that looked like a shadow hovering over her. “I cannot remove it until you repent.”

The little girl repented and then asked the Lord to remove the fear. She felt like a great load had been lifted from her. She was not going to make that mistake again. She would ask the Lord about everything, because things are not always what they seem to be. It was a hard lesson but a good lesson to learn. The little girl was not afraid to stay in her tent anymore.

One day the little girl decided to gather some wild flowers from around the camp. She thought the Lord might enjoy some flowers and they would brighten the camp up some. Then she heard a buzzing sound. She ignored it at first but as it grew louder she noticed a big bee was heading right for her. Before she realized what was going on the bee stung her on the upper shoulder.

“Oh man,” cried the little girl, “that hurts.” But before she knew what was going on another bee stung her on the other arm. “Well this is just great,” said the little girl, “stung twice in one day. Boy this really hurts bad.”

Then she heard the sound of lots of buzzing. She looked up and the sky was thick with bees and they were all heading straight for her. If all those bees stung her it could kill her. She thought about making the fire smoke to run them off but there was no time for that. Quickly she ran to the tent and shut the flap. She closed the flap just in time. A few bees had made it into the tent but she grabbed her fly swatter and whacked them.

She could here the bees bombarding the tent trying to break through. Then they started to find little cracks around the tent closer to come in. They were pushed through every little crack by the hordes behind them. She started swinging wildly at them with her fly swatter but it was useless against so many and soon the tent would be full of them. Finally in desperation she cried out to the Lord for help.

Instantly the Lord was there. “Help me,” cried the little girl shrieking, “help I can’t hold them off much longer.”

“Come here,” said the Lord calmly.

“What!” the little girl was shocked. Did the Lord not see the battle she was in. “I can’t stop fighting to come to you, the bees will kill me. I need you to come rescue me.”

But the Lord only repeated, “Come to Me. Come here where it’s safe.”

“But Lord I can’t stop fighting.” She said beginning to cry.

“Would I ask you to do it if it would hurt you?” He asked

It came down then to whether she was going to believe what she saw or the Lord that had always been there for her. She dropped the fly swatter and ran to Him. Quickly He lifted His cloak on either side and wrapped it about her. She expected the bees to begin to pelt against Him like they had the tent but instead they were trying fiercely to find the cracks to get back out.

All the bees finally exited and the Lord let His cloak down. “What happened?” asked the little girl.

“They are afraid of Me.” Said the Lord.

“Why were they so intent on getting to me?” asked the little girl.

“Because you’re mine.” The Lord said smiling at her. “I thought you were going to ask Me before you did anything and call Me before you try to do things on your own?”

“But I didn’t even have time to think.” The little girl said defending herself.

“When the first bee stung you, you should have called Me.” Said the Lord sternly.

“But it was such a little thing.” She said realizing that what He said was true. “I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

“The Lord laughed, “You are so silly. You are never a bother. I love you. When the first bee stung you it was testing you to see if you would call on Me. When the second bee stung you it was marking you as safe to attack.”

“I’m sorry,” said the little girl sincerely, “will I ever learn to call on you all the time and listen like I should?”

“That’s up to you,” the Lord said, “but if you don’t give up you will learn. Now I need you to pick up every last one of the dead bees and cast them a good distance outside the camp. There presence will draw the other bees back here if you don’t.”

As the little girl swept up the bees she began to sing a song of thanks to the Lord for rescuing her yet again. The Lord loved to hear her sing.

One day as the little girl was gathering wood for the fire to make her dinner she noticed the wind seemed rather strong tonight. The leaves in the old oak danced and rattled and some of them fell floating to the ground. It seemed like a game the wind and the oak were playing together, except something about it seemed odd to her but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

She was going to make vegetable soup tonight and the thought of it made her hungry. Quickly she chopped the vegetables into the pot with some water and placed the pot on the fire. She couldn’t remember when she had been so hungry. She checked on the soup in a few minutes to stir it but the water was not even warm. “That’s odd,” thought the little girl, “maybe it has something to do with the wind.” For the wind had indeed picked up again and there seemed to be something strange about it.

She went about preparing her little table for dinner and doing a few other things and then went back to check again. The pot was cool to the touch and the water still cold. “What in the world,” she thought, “how can it still not be hot. The flames are all around it.”

She put fresh wood on the fire and positioned the wood for the most heat. She was extremely hungry now and starting to get sleepy. She said a little prayer and asked the Lord to bless her dinner and help it cook and then she sat down and began to read a book.

She waited another hour and checked on the pot again. Nothing would be able to resist the force of that big fire she had made. But the pot was still cool and the water actually cold. “Lord please don’t let the enemy steal my super.” She whined, “I am so hungry. Please bless it to cook quickly. Amen.”

Now she was even hungrier and getting very sleepy, for by now it was way past her bedtime. She picked up her book but was too sleepy to concentrate on it. So she sat by the fire and watched it. It was so hot by the fire that she had to back up a few feet. “I know it is cooking now.” She thought, “I’ll just rest my eyes here for a few minutes while it cooks.” But soon she was sound asleep.

She awoke the next morning still in the same spot. The fire had gone out. She jumped up to check on the soup. It was still not cooked at all. “Lord, this is just not fair.” She said upset. “All I wanted was something to eat and the enemy has stolen the fire from my food. I am so hungry. Why didn’t you do something?” She said in an accusing voice.

“Because you were not praying the right thing.” Said the Lord behind her. She turned startled to see Him. “But I’m hungry.” She whined, “What must I pray just to be able to eat?”

“You prayed for the fire to cook the food,” said the Lord with a contemplative look at her, “but I was the one keeping it from cooking.”

“You!” she exclaimed, “But why?”

“Because the wind that you felt so uneasy about was a wind from the enemy.” He said still studying her. He reached into the pot and pulled out a small leaf. “He used it to blow this into your pot. If you had eaten it, you would have died. You should have called on Me at the first sign of uneasiness. That was My warning signal to you.”

“Lord this is just not fair.” She said whining, “This is too hard. Every time I turn around there is something new I am suppose to know about but I don’t understand all of this stuff. All I know if I want you to take care of me. I’m just a little girl. I don’t understand all this enemy stuff. Can’t you just take care of me anyway? Why do I have to go through all of this?”

The Lord sat and looked at her for a while before He answered as though He were measuring whether she was ready for the answer or not. “You know I have taken care of you all of your life. This camp would not be safe otherwise. It would have been easy for any enemy or wild animal to destroy you but I protect you from it all. Sometimes you want Me to talk about the days ahead and you find Me a little vague but that is because you are not ready to understand what lies ahead. You would still measure it by only what you can feel and see, instead of measuring it by My ability to take care of you.”

He sighed as though resigning Himself to the task. “There are hard times ahead. There is a great long battle. Many will suffer and die and many will fall away. I need you to be getting ready for it now. I need you to be in that battle, not just to survive it but also to help others and to do My will. That is why from time to time I lift My covering of protection around you for a moment and actually allow you to be attacked. I do this to train you in the warfare and the battles ahead, so you will be ready and you will not perish in battle because it will be much worse than anything you have ever seen or heard.”

He placed the poison leaf on the ground and looked up at her with that questioning look. “But now it is up to you. You accused Me of not taking good care of you, of Me making things harder than they need to be. But that would only be true if I didn’t prepare you for the days ahead. This accusation is very serious and could cost us all we have worked for. Do you mean it? Do you still feel I have not taken good care of you?”

She threw her arms around Him crying. “I am so sorry.” She said, “I was so busy thinking only of myself and my immediate needs that I did not realize the truth. Please forgive me. I want only to do Your will forever and not mine. Please let me try again. I do trust you. I really do.” She said burying her face in His chest sobbing.

He held her back from Him and looked her in the eyes. “Do you mean it? You will trust Me no matter what and never doubt Me again.”

“Yes!” she said still crying, “Will you please help me to do that and remind me of it.”

“Yes I will.” He said laughing again. “Then the training can continue. You see I am not teaching to fight. I am teaching you to trust Me and call on Me at the first sound of danger. Here you are safe but in the battle if you slip you will not be safe. So I am training you now to call on Me in every circumstance or attack and to call quickly. It will save your life one day. I will do all the fighting for you. I just need two things from you. I need you to be willing and teachable. You can’t be either of those unless you trust Me and believe I care for you.”

“I do trust you.” She said smiling up at Him too. “And I am ready to begin more training. What’s next?”

“Well if you know it’s coming,” he said, “it won’t be training. Training is learning what to do when you don’t expect it, and what you do is always call on Me and only do what I tell you. Never wait, even a slight delay can be costly.”

“I will.” Said the little girl eagerly.

“Now let’s eat.” Said the Lord, “I thought you were hungry.”

The little girl looked and the soup was cooked and ready to eat. They ate and laughed through the morning. She didn’t like the idea that someday she would be leaving the safety she had there under the tree but she knew as long as she was with Him everything would be ok.