[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br3_mMFK5xU[/youtube]

My husband and I stayed at an Orlando beach results were hundreds of trees were covered in Spanish Moss. When I learned that Spanish Moss has no typical root system but thrives on water and nutrients it draws from the air, I was intrigued. How is that possible — that something invisible can create mounds of this very visible vegetation?

Spanish Moss even blossoms! In season, small flowers with yellow-green to blue petals appear on the strands. I always thought it was a parasite, but upon research I found that it doesn’t draw nutrients from the trees. It isn’t attached, it’s just clinging to the trees for support. Isn’t that a miracle?

Besides being interesting to look at, Spanish moss also serves the animal kingdom. There’s a type of spider that only lives in Spanish moss. And birds, squirrels, owls and mockingbirds like to use it in their nests. They say Henry Ford even stuffed the seat cushions of his automobiles with it.

As I walked around looking at this incredible vegetation, I felt a distinct impression that there is something we can all learn from the plant. Think of the level of trust it takes to have no visible means of sustenance. What would it be like to know that everything you needed to survive had to be pulled from the air?

I believe that if we could come to that level of trust, we would tap into something incredible — just like the Spanish moss. Our lives would become abundant, visible, intriguing and useful. We would become a living, breathing marvel.

Remember how Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin … even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28-29). He kept trying to teach us to trust God as our great Provider. Frankly, teaching trust is a very difficult thing to do. It’s a way of being and feeling about your life that is difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it.

I believe that’s why God has placed symbols all around us in nature to model the principle. Surrounding us are myriads of living organisms that grow abundantly without all the stress, strain and worry in which humans engage.

Jesus continued, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

I’ve noticed that the more I struggle, worry and fight to “provide” for myself, the more elusive those provisions become. Yet, the more I calmly trust, the more doors of opportunities open for me, seemingly out of thin air. The more I’m like Spanish moss, hanging around my Tree (or God) for support and trust that everything I need will be provided, the more I thrive and flourish.

Which brings me to one of my favorite verses

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Trust Him! He is your great Provider.