Finding Stability in God Alone
Life can get messy, unpredictable, be unfair, and is in a constant state of change. Some changes are anticipated and some are unexpected. I spent my earlier years resisting change after my parents divorced. I longed for things to go back to the way they were, so I could have stability and predictability in my life again. I resisted the reality that things would never be the same again. I eventually imploded emotionally as I remained stuck in between reality and my fantasy. I kept looking for the answers to find stability in my family getting back together until one day I realized the answers did not lie there, and began to search for them as I went out into the world at 18. However, it was a few years before I was to experience stability in my life in the midst of an ever changing and often unfair world. The lesson from a willow tree and its roots led to a life changing moment in the calm of God’s presence.
The Seedling
Dick, my husband, and I had been married at this point for about ten years, were raising three children, and lived in a beautiful home. God had redeemed my life in so many ways, and yet I still found myself living with this sense that at any moment I could lose all this and I would be back to being alone and lost. This thought brought instability within and a hyper vigilance to make sure I was keeping my marriage healthy and raising our children right. I developed patterns of codependency in my closest relationships, including my marriage and family. In my quiet time with God, He began to show me how I was depending more on people than on Him to find peace and answers. He asked me to come to Him to pour out my heart rather than to people, and to learn how to listen to His voice. It was in this season that I came upon the unexpected lesson from the willow tree in our backyard.
My husband, Dick, loves trees and loves to plant them in our yard. One year he chose to plant two willow trees in our backyard. One was by the street and the other at the back corner of our yard by a stream. A willow tree loves water, so the tree near the stream was in a prime location for thriving. The problem however, was that these trees were hard to see at first because they were only 18 inches tall. On several occasions, my husband mowed over the willow tree in the back corner of our yard. He would come to me and say, “I did it again!” But, to our amazement that tree would come back again the next spring and outgrow the other willow tree by the road. It grew taller and broader than the other tree- then came the deer. After a few years it became strong and established, the deer began to root on it stripping away the bark on its sides. We wondered if the tree would survive the next winter after losing its outer protection. But, it continued to grow taller and broader regardless of the attack on its outer bark. In fact, it was outgrowing the willow tree near the roadside- then came the ice.
To make matters worse, the following winter brought many snow and ice storms that broke off many of its branches. Would this tree be able to withstand these harsh winter conditions? We watched in amazement and wonder as this willow tree that had endured such hardship in its early years of life continued to grow and thrive despite its many challenges.
Against the odds of human mistakes and nature’s onslaughts, the tree grew to be taller and broader than the other tree that did not encounter any of these obstacles. The reason? Its roots were able to grow deep and wide alongside the stream it was planted near. The deeper and wider the roots were free to grow, the broader and higher it was able to grow each season. That is when God started to teach me that it wasn’t the conditions above the soil that mattered most in the life of the willow, but the conditions below the soil. What I couldn’t see with my eyes was that the tree was able to receive the nourishment it needed from the soil, and more importantly the stream of water, so its roots were able to spread deep and wide. That is what gave it the strength and ability to thrive regardless of the conditions above the soil.
Rooted and Grounded
I pondered this thought one day as I began one of my prayer walks. Is it more important what happens to us in this world, or what happens in our hearts? Jesus told us that in this world we would have tribulations, but to not worry because he has overcome the world. Then I asked myself, “What am I rooting and grounding myself in? The muck and mire of this world (my past), or in the truth of God’s Word and His love?” I began my search in God’s Word to find out what God said I was to root and ground myself in.
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT) says, “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 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.”
Colossians 2:6-8 (NLT) “And now as you have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
We are exhorted to be rooted and grounded in two things: God’s love and in Jesus Christ as our Lord. The figurative language here of having our roots to grow down into God’s love and to let our roots grow down into Jesus Christ by following Him as our Lord, magnifies the importance that if we want to be strong, if we want our lives to be established, if we want to experience the fullness of God’s love, and overflow with thankfulness, then we need to pay close attention to who and what we are drawing nourishment from- the world or God’s truth.
Everyone seeks love, peace, and stability. In this world, you will only find a foundation of muck and mire because it is a fallen world that is unpredictable, ever-changing, and untrustworthy. In God’s Word you will find truth and love found only in His Son Jesus Christ. You and I will find the firm foundation that will provide living waters that will sustain us, nourish our souls, and strengthen us regardless of what is going on around us.
As I began to learn how to go to God for the love I needed and to follow more closely to Jesus Christ as my Lord, I learned how to depend on God rather than on my relationships with people for the love and stability I craved. Life is a walk, a journey, so the transformation came over time as I took time to be with God every morning. Soaking in His love and digesting His Word, I began to grow and become established in my relationship with Him. The fruit came in enjoying life free from the entanglement of clinging to people for love, stability, and peace.
We are living in very unique and unusual times, but the circumstances surrounding us do not have to keep us off balance, nor rob us of our peace. We need only to draw our nourishment from God, the Fountain of Living Waters, and from His Son who offers living waters that will quench our thirst. We will find the peace we are seeking, and the unfailing love our hearts crave most.
Just as any building is only as strong and stable as its foundation, and any plant is only as strong as its root system, so our lives are only as strong and stable as what we are building our lives upon and drawing nourishment from. Let us root ourselves in God’s love and in Jesus Christ our Lord, as we build our lives upon the foundation God laid down for us in His Son. Then no matter what winds of persecution come, or how hard the storms of doubt and fear assail, we will have a root system within us running deep and wide into the heart and presence of God that will give us the strength to endure, and the power to withstand whatever comes our way.
