The Tree

I'm not given to frequent visions and I don't know if what I saw even qualifies as a vision...it was more like a very short mental video clip. While I was praying I got a random image in my mind; random in that it had nothing to do with what I was praying about or thinking about.  I've learned over the years that when I see something so random that I would do well to pay attention to it.  This was one of those times.

What I saw was a large tree partially suspended above the earth but still partially attached at the root system on its right side.  The tree was large with a large spread of boughs.  The root system that was exposed showed that the roots were just as big as the system of branches.  Dirt was crumbling away from the exposed roots.

I shared this with the men that I was with at the time and admitted that I had no idea what it meant and any assumptions that I had weren't all that substantive.  I pondered what I saw for a couple of days when I sensed the Lord bring a revelation of what I was seeing.

The tree represents the church that I lead.  It was a well established tree with an extensive root system.  The exposed roots were not indicative of the health of the church but was instead an image of the present tense of what God was doing.  The dirt that was falling away showed that what was happening was currently in process.  The words "root bound" and "transplantation" came to mind and I realized that what I saw was God uprooting my church from the soil it was currently planted in and placing her in new soil.  God was doing a root pruning so that the church could thrive where at one time she had been unable to flourish.

This process would be a shock to the system.  As with any transplantation, the plant or tree goes through an adjustment as it tries to respond to the new environment.  What is perhaps most difficult for the plant/tree is that its roots have been tampered with and has experienced needed pruning.  Even though it was in a state of unhealthiness, the roots had grown accustomed to the state of its health.  The shock is sometimes too much for the plant/tree to endure.

While that might sound like a scary description of what the church is enduring, I get no sense of dread from the images I saw.  I felt great assurance in that the gardener doing the transplanting was no slouch.  He has a new environment for us to thrive in.  Not an environment that is inward focused but an environment that allows our roots to spread out and be established beyond any previous parameters.  What I saw held a lot of implications for us both practically and spiritually.  The foremost implication was that a great shift was taking place in our thinking.  We are approaching and pursuing our community in arenas that have yet to be tapped.  A great work is ahead of us and everything we are and have gone through is leading up to this season!

Isaiah 43:19--

"For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."