Built on the Rock

Have you ever seen a tree or plant growing in the most unusual of places. A cornstalk in the pavement of the highway or a weed growing out of a crack in a sidewalk. Or as in this picture, up and out of a rocky area.

The odds are strongly against something like that happening and succeeding. Yet as we can see it does.

Life can sometimes be like that. A seed can be planted in the most unlikely of places. Most of the time it will simply die. But there are those few and remote chances it will flourish.

There is so much that has to come together at the right place and time for this to all work out. And just simply having the strength to last and endure through the storms as well as life in general makes these happenings even more amazing.

The question is, can someone replicate those conditions to allow success? Can someone artificially bring together all the correct elements with the correct timing and make it all work?

Someone could intentionally plant a tree in that exact spot seen in the picture, water it every day, nuture it and still never realize the fruits of their labors. Yet happenstance made a visit and a strong and vibrant tree has sprung from the rock.

This tree has clearly been at this site for many years. It has thrived where many have died long before it and likely long after it. Or never even got a start. It has weathered heat, cold, storms and the threat of disease.

Was this seed designed to thrive and somehow predestined to its stregnth and endurance or was it pure luck?

Some will point to the providence of God in all things. That's possible. But why that tree or weed or stalk of corn when so many have not survived and thrived against the odds?

The purpose for the questions is how all this applies to people. Why do the most unlikely people thrive against the odds and the people who do all the right things seem to try and die? And even after a brief failure, those unlikely few seem to replant and thrive even stronger than before. What is their Miracle-Grow? What is their personal potting soil? What allows them to choose the exact right place to make things happen and grow?

They will tell you it's that they never gave up. They seem even seem exasperated that others simpy can't "just make it happen" like they did. It's almost as if they throw a switch and the juice flows. Once they discover that switch, it seems to work no matter what they do or attempt. How do they do that?

There are some things in life that are simply "do its". You just throw your energy at the project and it can be done. Those "do its" have a great chance at success. But to be the tree in the rock isn't a do it. Something else has taken place.

My guess is all of those seeds that found a place on those rocks seen above never gave up either. As you can see, only a few of the never gave ups didn't fail. Very few. Others worked hard trying to find that right place to latch onto and prosper and never found their place. They never gained traction or were able to plant roots.

As a person or a seed, do you move on to more fertile soil or do you stay and risk a small chance at stregnth and endurance?