Tapping In
Springtime! As nature awakes and thaws during this beautiful season, it is what we cannot see that will bring forth the truest beauty. Tulip and daffodil bulbs wouldn’t make a pretty bouquet, yet they yield a delicate flower with a soft sweet smell. The fuzzy buds on a magnolia tree are far less lovely than the wide, white-hued flowers that bloom thereafter. Looking out the bare trees in the springtime, our hearts pine away for the leaves that will soon shade us in the long days of summer. If you were standing in a forest among tall maples, what your eyes cannot see deep beneath the rough bark is what brings life to the tree itself. But if you were to peel back the layers you would find liquid gold!
I have a friend whose family adopted one maple tree to try their hand at making maple syrup! Fifteen years later, they now tap 80 trees, and it has become a family endeavor!
Something deep begins to stir.
When the days of spring reach warm temperatures, and the nights still have a chill, the sap within the maple tree begins to loosen up and flow. From the process of photosynthesis, yummy sugar is produced and is stored within the tree. This is the maple tree's food and energy through the cold months. It is the tree’s blood line. Once the sap is loosened, growth begins, and sweetness flows! (I have even shared an experience with my children on a field trip as we listened to the sap with a stethoscope! It was amazing!)
You may have asked, why the science lesson? Well, God can speak to us in so many ways! He certainly uses His creation as one method. As that sap flows, a farmer must use a tap to collect what flows from the tree.
Tap into what God is doing.
If the farmer doesn’t watch the weather and temperature changes closely, he can miss the better flow of the sap! Don’t miss the drip! Don’t quench the Spirit! (I Thess. 5:19). When the tap is flowing, be present! Just like in our spiritual lives, we can miss the climate of what the Lord is doing and forfeit a sweet move of the Spirit upon our lives.
Psalm 104 is a delightful passage declaring the beauty of God’s creation. Verse 16 says:
“The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted.”
Blessed is the one planted by water, not withering, wise and flourishing (Ps 1)!! It is God’s will for us, to have sap; liquid gold, rushing through us! He wants us to be tapped into the sweetness of all He has and to have an outflow to the world!
Prepared for the Process.
Once the sap is tapped, it has to be strained, boiled for 2 days and heated again to a high temperature to remove any final impurities. This should remind our hearts of the refinement that takes place when it comes to our faith. “So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter1:7). Finally, the sweet syrup is ready but must be pressurized in individual cans. From 100 gallons of sap, it only yields 1 gallon of syrup. Yet, this tedious and sticky process is worth it once you taste the reward of your work. Much is the same in the Kingdom.
Sweet Rewards.
Sensing when the Holy Spirit is moving and tapping into what God has for us on a daily basis is sure to produce sweet rewards! So, don’t be a sap! Challenge yourself to store up the goodness of God this spring and summer, so as the colder months swing back around, you will have the needed nutrients to sustain you.
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”
Psalm 104:34 “My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.”
(I think I’m going to make some pancakes!!)
