Meet Methuselah

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,
for we know that they help us develop endurance
(Romans 5:3 NLT)

Meet Methuselah. No, not Methuselah the patriarch (son of Enoch and grandfather of Noah, found in the book of Genesis) but Methuselah, the bristlecone pine, residing in White Mountain, California.

Methuselah, the tree, was born almost 5,000 years ago (4,850 years ago to be precise). Methuselah, the patriarch lived for 969 years. Methuselah, the tree has survived almost five times as long. It would have been a seedling in 2,833 BC, which means it was around before the Egyptian pyramids were built! It has seen America becoming a nation, two world wars, the invention of the printing press, a man walking on the moon, and the coming of Christ.

What conditions would allow a tree to survive for so many years? The obvious answer would be optimal conditions – warmth, plentiful water, nutrient-rich soil, protection from the elements, but no, Methuselah has survived and thrived in an extremely difficult environment.

It grows at an elevation of ten thousand feet, often swept by icy winds. The area it grows in gets less than twelve inches of precipitation per year and most of that falls as winter snow. The soil is nutrient-deficient, and the short summer only allows it about six weeks of growing time.

God, in His infinite wisdom, gave the bristlecone pine many practical adaptations to allow it to survive in this hostile environment, but He also gave it an innate ability to endure times of stress and hardship. It is a living example that adversity brings strength.

As adversity produces strength in the pine, so adversity also produces strength in our spiritual walk. Adversity develops our spiritual muscles and helps us grow to maturity in Christ. That is why God will allow trials and tests to come our way.

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold (1 Peter 1:7 NLT)

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10 NKJV)

When adversity strikes, remember Methuselah, standing strong in the Sierra mountains, and hold on with everything you’ve got. You may not live 5,000 years but you will live victoriously in the time God gives you on earth.