I was at work a few weeks back, and I saw a glass sculpture that reminded me of a devotional that I read not too long ago. The piece, a blown glassbwork by Alexis Silk (an Oakland, CA based artist), is titled “Nature’s
Rebellion.” In the sculpture, she takes a worn human head and drives through it with several wooden sticks. The image may look weird or meaningless as is, but it is a perfect illustration of the message.
Alexis Silk – “Nature’s Rebellion”
The devotional takes inspiration from the final battle between King David and his son, Absalom:
“The battle spread out over the whole countryside and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword” (2 Samuel 18:8)
When you have Jesus as your root, He can recruit even trees to fight your battles for you. King David was evidence of this. When his son rebelled against him and sought after the throne, Israel was thrown into a saga, with people of the nation choosing sides between father and son. In the course of time, Absalom used David’s strengths and weaknesses to his advantage – he even managed to turn David’s prime confidant against him. But, he must have forgotten that his father had Christ as his root. And when the Root decided to mobilize His supernatural army for David, the trees fought so mightily that even the sword was rendered useless. Talk about an army. Absalom met the beginning of his end in the hands of one mighty oak – “He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair while the mule he was riding kept on going” 2 Samuel 18:9
Pardon me for finding comedy in something tragic, but this sounds like something you would only see in movies, right? I wonder what kind of army God will use to fight my battles.