How Deep Do Your Roots Go
3 He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! (Matthew 13:3-8)
A few days ago, I saw a post that said “The storm doesn’t test the leaves, it tests the roots”. I thought about how true that was and how it was a good question to ask ourselves, especially in our healing and recovery or in any trial we are going through. We are not beyond encountering storms in life. We are not beyond being tested. We are not beyond being tempted. We are not beyond suffering. It’s going to happen. Romans 8:17 states:
17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
So whether we are tempted, tested or suffering, we walk through it with Christ because He knows what we are going through and He has been through it. When we handle each situation with Christ, it furthers our spiritual growth. There will be many times the situation will be out of our control and all we can do is simply pray (which we should be praying throughout our situations), turn it over to God, and continue walking. By doing so, we set a good example for others and bring glory to God. We show that our roots are deep in Christ and our faith will not be shaken no matter what the outcome is. We have to remember that God knows what is happening in our life, our family, our country and the world and He knows what He is doing. He may simply want us to pray. Sometimes we need to be shaken to see where our faith is and how deep our roots really are in Christ. If our roots are deep, then we will be well nourished and continue growing stronger. If they are not deep, then we will be ruled by our emotions.
So take a moment in your situation and ask yourself, “How deep are my roots in Christ?”. You’ll know by how the situation is affecting you.