I was leaving town one weekend for an overnight stay. I took a look at my grass before I left and thought that it would be okay for a few days without cutting it as it wasn’t too bad. It rained that night and when I got home the next day it was ridiculous how much it had grown over one night. Now I’ve never watched grass grow, but this was in fast forward.
I know watching grass grow is just a saying talking about how slow something moves. There is something that grows incredibly slower than grass, an oak tree.
An oak tree typically takes 50 to 100 years to grow to its full mature height. While vertical growth slows down significantly after its first few decades, the tree will continue to expand its canopy and thicken its trunk for centuries to come.
During its first five years as a seedling, an oak tree focuses heavily on establishing a deep taproot system, keeping its above-ground height to a modest 2 to 10 feet. By year 10, the tree reaches an average height of 10 to 20 feet, beginning to function as a minor landscape tree. By year 30, it grows to between 30 and 50 feet tall, providing substantial yard shade and starting consistent acorn production. Finally, between years 50 and 100 or more, its vertical growth peaks between 40 and 100+ feet depending on the species, at which point the oak shifts its energy into broadening its majestic crown.
Have you ever seen a big tree that made you wonder just how long it had been there? Maybe you wondered what storms it may have seen. What families may have sat under its branches and had a picnic. How the landscape has changed around it as it just slowly grew. How many children grew old watching this tree grow. If this tree could talk, what stories could it tell? Long before it became impressive, it was simply faithful. Every mighty oak began as something most people could step over without noticing.
There are some obvious observations when it comes to grass and trees. Grass grows quickly and has shallow roots, causing it to die off every season, whereas oak trees grow slowly and send their roots deep to endure storms for generations. While grass provides a simple lawn, oaks offer lasting shade, shelter, and strength, eventually producing the acorns that become future forests.
What does this have to do with us? Our walk with God is not like grass, it’s like an oak tree. We start living for God and expect to be the same as someone who has been doing this for years. We look at the shade that these “oak trees” cast and compare it to the shallow roots that we see in our own lives. We compare our six months to someone else’s forty years. We compare our roots to someone else’s canopy. We compare our sapling to someone else’s oak.
It says in Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. Notice “in his season.” God never expected fruit on day one.
An oak tree doesn’t spend its energy trying to look like an oak; it simply keeps drawing water day after day. Every year, another ring is added to its core without anyone ever noticing the subtle change. Yet five, ten, and twenty years later, people look up and begin saying, “That’s a strong tree.” That strength wasn’t built in one dramatic storm, but through thousands of completely ordinary days.
Others will find shade and strength under it, as people don’t admire an oak tree simply because it is impressive, but rather sit under it because they are tired. An oak never enjoys its own shade. It grows for the benefit of everyone else. That is the essence of ministry: you don’t grow just for yourself, but you grow so that someone else can find a place to rest.
Don’t despise slow growth, because God isn’t growing grass; He’s growing oaks. Oaks take years to mature, but when the storms come, no one runs to hide beneath the grass, they run to the oak.
The deepest growth is always the growth that nobody sees, which is especially true in our spiritual lives. Think about the disciplines that shape us most: consistent prayer, Christlike character, genuine humility, fierce integrity, and a deep knowledge of Scripture. None of these are flashy. None are usually celebrated. Yet these quiet habits become the roots that sustain us long before any fruit becomes visible.
Here’s another thought, we don’t give directions by saplings. Not because the sapling is unimportant, but because it hasn’t had time to become a landmark yet. No one becomes a landmark overnight. The trees that become landmarks are the ones that simply refused to stop growing.
So can I encourage you to just keep growing. Draw from the living water every day. Let your roots grow deeper before you worry about growing taller. God is calling you to become faithful. Faithfulness, over time, often becomes a landmark for someone else.
One day someone may find shade beneath your branches.
Someone may find strength because you stood through storms.
Someone may take direction because your life became a landmark pointing them toward Christ.
No one becomes an oak overnight.
Just keep growing.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord… For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters… and shall not see when heat cometh… neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
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