Deeply Rooted and Standing Firm

A few weeks ago I made a difficult decision that, truthfully, was years in the making. It was the right decision but one that I definitely struggled with. Soon afterward, I found myself wrestling to make a good decision about the decision I made, i.e. choose to honor my original decision. When my heart is involved in the decision process I find these things a bit difficult

I am so fortunate to pray with a fantastic group of ladies each Monday morning. While I did not share specifics of my decision I did ask them to pray that I would stand firm. Two of the gals expressed the same visual as they prayed for me to stand firm; they saw a tree planted with deep roots. Since that particular prayer time I have been thinking a lot about trees.

A recent trip showed me a variety of trees. As we drove I could see trees that look fairly normal but something wasn’t quite right; on closer inspection, some trees leaned toward the water just slightly. Upon reaching the shore of Lake Michigan I could easily see that the strong winds, high water levels, and crashing waves had eroded the sand and small rocks in which the tree was rooted. Unless there was some serious intervention the tree would be lost.

There are times we are like this. We look good from a distance but a closer inspection reveals our spiritual roots to be battered by the discouragement, pain, loss, and other storms of life. Without intentional intervention we may not be able to stand.

I long to be like the trees described in Jeremiah 17.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. – Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT)

Other trees seem to defy explanation. Out of sheer determination and defiance they grow in seemingly impossible situations; a single tree growing out of a solid rock face with no discernable water source, a small grove of trees in the middle of an arid landscape. God provides the provision for these trees to grow for purposes unknown to us.

I believe that God gently tends to his garden of trees and knows when we need the prayers of other believers, more watering through his Word, and his strong hand to hold us when we find ourselves in impossible situations.