As I've stated in one of my blogs before, a few years back I had an amazing opportunity to go to Alabama with a team of great people and help clean up the destruction left behind by the tornados that hit down there. Many times since then God has brought me back to that time to teach me, remind me and humble me. It was a great time of serving and helping others, but it was also and eye opening experience of how fragile life truly is. However, today God once again reminded me of things I saw during that time and spoke to me through it.
One of the memories that is forever etched into my brain is the sight of all the trees in the area and how it looked after the storm hit. And recently after a storm came through my neighborhood I was once again reminded of what I saw that day. And what I saw was whole trees taken right out of the ground and tossed around like they were nothing. Trees that had been standing for more years than the neighborhoods around them. Some where ripped right out of the ground, and some were still standing. What was the difference between them all? Their root system. It didn't really have much to do with the part of the tree we could see sticking up out of the ground, it had everything to do with the part of the tree you couldn't see. When the storm hit, that was the most important part of those trees. And recently when a bad storm came through my neighborhood, a tree that had been standing for many many years that looked strong and healthy was pulled right up out of the ground in front of my sister's house. Again, from the part we saw every single day, the tree looked strong and healthy, but it was amazing to see how small it roots where after it had been ripped out of the ground and they were exposed. I remember standing there looking it and thinking "I can't believe it stood this long!". The tree was huge. It had many nice strong healthy limbs, lots and lots of green leaves and a nice big round healthy trunk, but it had the smallest roots. I was so shocked. Why now? Why after all this time did this tree finally get ripped up out of the place it had stood for so long? Because this was the perfect storm to get this tree to fall. Without the proper root system any tree that has stood for years can fall if the storm that hits has all the right conditions. It might stand through many many small storms, but it will only take that one perfect storm to get it to fall. But those trees that are rooted deep, those trees that have been growing in the right conditions whose roots spread out into the places we cannot see....those are the trees that won't budge under any storm. Yeah, they may have had their leaves stripped off more than once, they may have been shaken by many huge gusts off winds and pounding rains, and they may have even lost a few limbs along the way....but in the end, the tree still stands!
I'm not writing some revelatory thing today. I'm not saying something that you may not already know. But I am trying to remind us all that it's all about our roots! Our roots in God are THE thing that will allow us to stand through any storm. Your roots will be a direct reflection to the growing conditions YOU have allowed yourself to be in. Planting yourself in the word, in Christian fellowship, in a good prayer life and avoiding the things of this world that will damage your roots...that is what it's all about. Devotion to a relationship with Christ and making sure you are planted firm in ONLY Him. Just like a tree can't have roots in loose rocks, or exposed above the ground, or in loose weak soil and be expected to stand strong, we also can't have our roots mixed up in all the wrong things and expect to weather the storms that come our way. One thing about a tree that is 100% true, it is going to have to go through some storms in it's time...and so will we. How we handle those will be a direct reflection of how we have prepared our root system.
Colossians 2:6-7 says "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving". You might be missing some leaves or even a limb or two when the storm calms, but if we do as God's Word says and root ourselves in Him and establish our faith in Him, then we can make it through the storms of life. I know this because He has carried me through some tough ones. Some of which have been humbling because on the outside "my tree" looked strong and healthy, but deep down my roots were not. But only God has the grace, mercy and love to look past the things we have done wrong and allow us to change it all today for the better! If you know your roots are not deep in Him, then let Him give you the direction and correction needed to change your life before a storm comes along that is just to much for you to stand through.
God, Thank You that You are THE source of our strength. That You want to bare our burdens and carry us through the storms of life. Please help us learn to root ourselves in You and not the things of this world. Thank You for the storms that You have helped us through, even when we didn't realize it was You. And Holy Spirit please help us listen to You for direction and correction in our lives so we can stand strong IN CHRIST through any future storm that may come our way. In Jesus name, Amen
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