Three Trees
Max Lucado


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 anything
special from my tree, so
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 pieces and left
alone in the dark.

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, He
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.

Please keep this moving...pass it on, so He may
inspire more people on the
way.

May your day be blessed.
May your road rise to meet you
May the wind be always be at your back
May the sun shine warmly upon your face
May the rain fall softly up on all that you plant
And until we meet again,
May God cradle you in the palm of His hand