Thankful For All My Trees

God’s provision is amazing. He provides every day all that we need and He gives us the ability to move forward in His will. His goodness endures forever and every day He gives us new mercies. Yes, His faithfulness is great as He knows what we need and when we need it.

We see this truth in the beginning with Adam and Eve. As God created the Garden of Eden He set Adam and Eve in it to take care of what He made. In doing so the Bible says that He planted trees which provided delicious fruit. It says that they could eat from all of these trees except one which was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now we don’t know how many trees there were, but we have to think it was a lot of them with a variety of fruit.

Genesis 2:15-17 gives us this insight –

“15. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden 17″. except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Genesis 2:15-17

Notice what God did for Adam and Eve. He gave them every tree in the Garden of Eden for provision, and all He asked was that they leave one tree alone. That’s why I’ve titled this blog, “thankful for all my trees” because God provides abundantly all that we need.

Yet we know what happened in the story. Both of them succumbed to temptation and ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree and they were separated from God. We’ve heard messages on this and have maybe even been in discussions about what happened that day in the Garden of Eden. However, there is something else I want to point out in this story.

The enemy was cunning to bring into focus what they couldn’t have and what they didn’t have to stir up temptation. He got their attention on what wasn’t theirs versus what was theirs in God. In other words, they forgot about all of the trees God had given them and they fixated on the one God forbid them to touch. And this is how the enemy works against you and me.

If he can get us to forget all the provision God has given, we will be subject to temptation. We will fixate on what we don’t have and what we can’t have, which could potentially separate us from God. From this place is where unthankfulness and ungratefulness can plague our heart. This is why I believe we must all be thankful for all of our trees, because God has given us so much.

What are some of the trees God has blessed you with?

The idea of remembering what God has done sounds simple but it is profound when we do it. This is how we can stay safe from temptation and this is also how we can stay thankful with a heart of praise to our God.

One of the greatest attacks on you and me, is to get us to focus on what we don’t have, so we forget what we do have through Christ. This is why it’s so important we are thankful for all our trees. Notice, the slippery slope of Adam and Eve’s fall began with their fixation on what they didn’t have. From this point is where they were subject to question what God said and to be deceived by the enemy.

I encourage you today to remember all the trees God has given you. Look at His provision and remember all He has done. This will help you guard your heart and you will be able to beat back the enemy of your soul. Doing this will remind you of all that God has done, which dares you to believe He will do something again.

So I ask a second time, what are some of the trees God has given you?

Take a next step this week and write some of these things down. Praise God for what He’s done. Let what you don’t have or what you can’t have move aside, and give God praise for who He is and what He has done in you.

I believe the old song that says, “He’s done so much for me, I cannot tell it all.”

Let this ring aloud in your heart. Survey your life and notice all the trees God has given you. Remember how He’s come through and how He’s been faithful. This will stir your heart and you will open up with praise. This is one of the ways we resist the enemy and it’s how we stay thankful daily.

May this be the best year of your life and may we all say, I’m thankful for all my trees.

Have a great week and the best is yet to come,