Three Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods.
They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the
first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure
chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems.
I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."
Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty
hip.? I will take kings and queens across the waters
and sail to the corners of the world.
Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."
Finally the third tree said, "I want to
grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the
forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look
up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God
and how close to Them I am reaching. I will be the
greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."
After a few years of praying that their dreams would
come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees.
When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks
like a strong tree, I think I should be able to
sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting
it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the
carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a
strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the
shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew that the
carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree
was frightened because he knew that if they cut him
down his dreams would not come true.
One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything
special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down."
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was
made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed
in a barn and filled with hay.
This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second
tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His
dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had
come to an end. The third tree was cut into large
pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by,
and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She
gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the
feed box that was made from the first tree.
The man wished that he could have made a crib for the
baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could
feel the importance of this event and knew that it had
held the greatest treasure of all time.
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat
made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep.
While they were out on the water, a great storm arose
and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep
the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he
stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this
time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was
carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it.
When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the
tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill.
When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it
was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and
be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
The moral of this story is that when things don't seem
to be going your way, always know that God has a plan
for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give
you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they
wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We
don't always know what God's plans are for us.
We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.