The Sequoia Life
The largest living things on earth are the giant sequoias found in northern California. These massive trees cover over 35,000 acres in the northwest corner of the United States. Here are a few facts about these unique creations of God:
- The largest sequoia tree on earth is the General Sherman, in Sequoia National Park of California, at approximately 52,500 cubic feet in volume of wood—over 400 cords of firewood.
- A sequoia tree in the Redwood Mountain Grove of Kings Canyon National Park is recorded to be 310 feet tall—close to the height of a thirty-story building.
- The General Grant sequoia tree of Kings Canyon National Park is believed to have the largest trunk diameter at 40.3 feet—equal to two full-size pickups parked bumper to bumper.
- Sequoias are one of the most enduring living things on the planet, with many between 2,000 and 3,000 years old—over forty human lifetimes.
- Sequoias are the world’s fastest growing trees.
So, you would suspect these mammoth trees to have roots that go into the ground the length of skyscrapers, wouldn’t you? While sequoias’ roots only go down twelve to fourteen feet deep, their mature root systems can occupy over one acre of earth and contain over 90,000 cubic feet of soil. Matted roots and dirt can maintain the strength and equilibrium of a tree nearly 300 feet tall and weighing close to 2 million pounds. They have the capability of surviving in less than three feet of soil by spreading their roots out, up to 300 feet away from the trunk!
This tells us that deep doesn’t necessarily mean straight down, as we most often think. Deep can also mean straight out, reaching far! Here’s how this works.
Giant sequoias:
- Fuse their root systems together
- Share their resources
- Do not compete with each other for their existence
Their roots wrap around and support each other, which has proven to be much stronger than if they went very deep all by themselves. Because of this dynamic, they overcome the natural challenges that kill other forest trees.
Therefore, giant sequoias are:
- Drought resistant
- Disease resistant
- Insect resistant
- Fire resistant
The key to the sequoias’ amazing growth, strength, and survival is that their roots are intertwined and hold each other up.
Likewise, as men living in this rapid-fire, self-centered, sex-crazed, and materialistic culture, the best way we can grow in Christ and get stronger in Him, while also resisting the many darts the Enemy fires at us, is to be like sequoias, intertwining our roots to hold each other up.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. —Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT