I’m a shade lover. Too much sun on this body of mine has a tendency to bring out the tomato in me, so my “beach” chair always gravitates to a shady area under a tree.. bush… cactus… whatever gets me out of the sun.
So I was intrigued this week when the Lord took me to a story highlighting a tree. I was spending time with the Lord getting my personal prophetic word for the day. (Click here to read the blog I wrote titled “Who Dat Talkin” on how to do this for yourself.) The story He took me to was in 1 Samuel 31.
Here’s the abbreviated version of the story…
1) Saul goes to war with the Philistines… and loses…
2) Saul and his sone are killed…
3) Saul loses his head… literally…
4) Saul and his boys get impaled on a wall…
5) Warriors from Jabesh-gilead attack Beth-shan and recover the bodies
6) They burn the bodies and bury their bones under a tree…
More specifically… a Tamarisk tree…
Here’s the interesting part… as I was seeking God as to who, where, or what I was in the story, he said…
“You are the Tamarisk Tree!”
So… off to Google I go, looking for specific information on Tamarisk trees. Here’s what I found…
1) They are the only tree which can grow around the Dead Sea and are native to this area…
2) A planted Tamarisk tree (Genesis 21:33) was always for future generations because they are slow growing.
3) They weep salt onto their bark at night…
4) During the day, moisture collects on the salt fragments…
5) The Tamarisk tree provides the coolest shade of any tree in Israel because of the moisture attached to the salt.
Here’s the Word I received… “What you are sowing as seed in your life is producing salt and light for generations coming after you… to provide cool spiritual shade from the heat they will face. You will grow and flourish in dead places when nothing else will flourish. You are a Tamarisk Tree to my body.
I gotta say… I’m totally loving being a shade lover!