Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"¹

Some of the most fascinating trees I have ever seen are the magnificent California and West Coast redwoods. They reach their leafy arms heavenward, commonly growing 200 to 275 feet tall. The tallest one in Humboldt County, California, towers 368.6 feet in height. These trees stand like sentinels of time and have done so for hundreds of years. Some were living at the time Christ walked on earth.

They've been through winds, earthquakes, fires and stormsâ€"still they stand. Nothing seems to deter them.

What is so amazing is that these trees, among the tallest in the world, have a comparably shallow root system and yet they rarely ever fall. How do they keep standing even in the wildest of storms? It's because the redwood's root systems reach out for great distances and are intertwined with one another. They literally hold each up other up.

If you and I are going to reach our full potential, we too need the support of each other, not to be overdependent but inter-dependent.

None of us can stand alone. As Solomon also said, "If two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."²

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be like a mighty redwood tree giving and receiving support to and from my fellow Christian friends so that I, too, can reach the heights of my God-given potential. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus's name. Amen."

1. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV).
2. Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 (NIV).

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