The other night Dave and I were sitting in the house and we heard a crash out on the porch. We both jumped up and went to the sliding glass door.
There at the bottom of the steps one of my flowerpots had been knocked over and the flowers were uprooted. The culprit who had inflicted this damage stood just a few feet away. A javelina!
It had eaten some of the blooms and must have tugged at the plant, pulling the pot off the step and onto the concrete. The pot wasn’t broken but potting soil was scattered about with pieces of half-eaten petunia in the mix.
Life can be like that.
An unexpected intruder, fear, comes in to uproot our faith.
“The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it at once. 21 But they don’t have deep roots, and they don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.
22Â The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything.” Matthew 13:20-22 CEV
Jesus gave this teaching on the Word of God being planted in our lives. It’s like seed that grows and brings a harvest of God’s truth. But we must be on guard to keep from being uprooted.
“ God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers 17 and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love.” Ephesians 3:16-17 CEV
The deeper a plant’s roots go down into the earth, the harder it is to uproot it. These verses in Ephesians go on to say:
” I pray that you and all God’s people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep.19 I want you to know all about Christ’s love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.” Ephesians 3:18-19 CEV
God wants us to know the depth of His love. He wants us filled with all that He is! Our confidence comes from being rooted in Him and knowing that He will never lie to us. He will never break His word.
“ You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. 22 But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. 23 But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth, and I myself have become a servant of this message.” Colossians 1:21-23 CEV
Maybe you feel that you’ve been knocked off the step and you’ve been uprooted. Take heart. I know a Master Gardner that will pick you up, tend to your leaves and repot you in the soil of His love so that you can be deeply rooted and firmly planted in Him!