A tender young tree grew by a stream.
It would do well there, it would seem.
The trunk grew straight and strong in the wind.
Its branches and leaves would wave and bend.
Then someone came walking by that bank
Wielding a sharp ax which he then sank
Into that young tree, in all its splendor.
The ax stuck tight and the tree did render
Sap to run and bind and heal that wound.
The tree grew as if the ax had only pruned.
It grew around the ax head 'til all one could see
Was the top of the ax sticking out of the tree.
The sharp blade was still right there inside.
Its wound, evidently, the tree could not hide.
Through years of growing, try as it would,
It couldn't grow normally as a young tree should.
It gave shade each Spring, pretty leaves each Fall;
But something wasn't quite right after all.
Though it had begun with a healthy, smooth trunk,
Now it was lumpy, crooked, and felt like junk.
The young girl grew in such an idyllic setting.
She'd do well with the care she'd be getting.
She was loved and always taken to church.
She began to grow well just like that birch.
Then something happened that hurt like the ax
Which stayed buried so deeply, the hidden facts,
'Til, one day, it all came boiling to the surface..
She'd tried to heal herself just like that tree,
The ax still inside where healing should be.
She felt all 'lumpy', 'crooked' and wanted to flee
When finally, she admitted the hurt was there
She found God was waiting, her life to repair.
He didn't go back and change any of the past;
He gave perfect love and healing that will last.
She gave Him her anger and all the frustration.
He gave her His peace and a new application
Of the healing balm which only He can give.
Then she knew His grace always would live
Inside, helping her forgive the wrongs of the past
And live anew because His joy will really last!
Written by Geneva Poynter
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