Grandmother’s silver-leaf maple tree fell over on a bright sunny day. There might have been some wind, we weren’t sure. No one was living in her house, because Grandmother had moved to heaven several years before. Grandmother’s backyard was peaceful and quiet, almost like being out in the country. She had rosebushes, Rose o’ Sharon bushes, plum trees, and one big silver-leaf maple tree.
The trunk at the base was about 2 feet in diameter–not a small tree. When we found it, it had been pulled completely out of the ground. The roots were all showing, a lot of little roots, but no tap root. Not a single long root going down deep into the earth.
The silver-leaf maple tree is very good for poor soil and is easily transplanted. The silver-leaf maple has many small shallow roots. It is hardy and survives in a variety of harsh conditions, but the wood is soft and can be damaged by severe wind or ice storms.
Because of this, the silver-leaf maple in Grandmother’s backyard was weakened by storms over the years. Then when an adverse wind came, the tree blew over.
Even though the tree fell over suddenly, it was in the process of falling for many years, because the root system was not supporting it.
Jesus told a parable about a farmer going out planting seeds, and described how some seeds developed.
These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Mark 4:16-17 NKJV
Jesus indicates that a deep root is developed because of hearing the word of God and receiving it, but the rocky soil of the heart keeps the root from developing.
Rocky soil has to be cultivated, dug up, the rocks pulled out and disposed of. The rocks of your heart will block the word of God from taking root and that will cause you to fall when the storms of life come.
Deep roots are developed when the weather is nice, in every-day life, day by day, not when the storm is upon you. The time to prepare for the storm is now.