Growing On Rocks

The picture above was taken last year when I went for my diving trip to Phuket with Pastor John and a few others. It was at one of our dive sites, Racha Rai. What fascinated me was how two coconut trees and another huge tree can grow on nothing but rocks!

Let me give you a bigger picture. The rocks that you see in the picture are a pile of rocks right in the middle of a huge sea! And that pile of rock make up a small island. And that small island has nothing on it except rocks. The small island was our dive site. Its’ size is just about two basketball courts and on it are just rocks.

And on that small island of rocks are two fully grown coconut trees.






Luke 6:46-49
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

I can’t help but to link the verse above with the picture I took of the coconut trees on rocks.

Can you imagine how strong the wind can be in the middle of an open sea? Can you imagine the power of the wind that the two coconut trees have to overcome? Can you also imagine the huge waves splashing against the rocks and trees during bad weather? Do you know how thin and “fragile” a coconut tree is? And given a location like that, right in the middle of the ocean, I am certain that there are a lot of natural elements going against the coconut trees and giving the trees a really tough time.

The trees still grew.

Look at the other picture with of the huge tree (scroll down). Can you see the effects of nature on it? The tree’s branches are all facing one direction and most of its leaves are gone. That shows how much wind and storm the tree have gone through. Yet it is still standing strong and proud.

What Jesus said about building your foundation on rocks is so true. When you have your house built on rocks, the wind and torrents and storms will not tear you down. But if you build it on sand, you are a goner.

The teachings of Jesus are so simple and true even nature is inspired by them.

What about you?