Feeling less than or inadequate stems from our worth and value being rooted in a false, negative identity, leading to a sense of unreality and fractured feelings of not fitting in or truly belonging anywhere. So we fail to bloom well where we are planted.

These thoughts catch us off guard and can make us act unwisely. We might bend to the conflicting will of another purely because we don’t value who we are or Whose we are. We fail to see our inestimable worth in God and end up denying our identity as His chosen Beloved child.

I am rooted in life’s gritty reality, subject to being pulled any which way by the world, though my heart seeks to remain stable, intent on Holy connectivity, silence and stillness in the midst of noise and busyness.

I am also rooted firmly in Christ and grafted into Him by faith. While I might sway to the force of secular winds, I try to obey the wise and gentle admonishment of Holy Spirit, while He teaches me how to live and love as Jesus does.

Salvageable

We see a tree stretching tall, leafy and green, lush and full
and we have cause to wonder from what stock and soil this
magnificent specimen sprang. Because the roots will always
determine every bearing branch, encircling lifeline and what kind
of fruit will flourish here, revealing the source of where it all began

A sorry, spindly offering is a sign of inherent weakness within
suggesting its flaws, sadly too real, are also irredeemable
if they’re rooted in deficient raw materials, and depletion
is apparent to all. Yet somehow life is salvageable when it
is grafted onto stronger stock, from which nutrients are drawn

Then we might witness a miracle of growth, a healing taking place
as the weaker sapling seeks its strength from a scion, taking
what it needs to become all our Creator-God intended it to be
and growing hardier each day. Seeds of hope are also sown in us, as
we watch and see how much this tree resembles our fallen humanity

We reflect on the earth from which we came, the tangled roots beneath
our feet which continue to make us trip and fall, face down in soil,
made low by life, by pain and pressure, fear, anxiety and stress
adding to the duress as society steals our dreams, confines and
constrains us tight, while we lose the very ground on which we stand
©joylenton

Spiritual growth is rarely an overnight or linear event. We constantly get tangled up in things that seem to impede our progress. We might feel small, flawed and useless but God sees all we are in the process of becoming by His grace.

“An oak tree starts life as an acorn hidden in the dirt. Nobody would ever know it was there. But contained within that tiny, hidden thing are all the makings of beauty, might, splendour and shelter. The little acorn simply takes a lifetime to become all that it was always meant to be” ~ Heidi Baker, ‘Into the heart of God’

You and I can take heart in being rooted in Someone so much stronger than we are. His Life pulses through our veins. His merciful Love means we’re never alone or ashamed.

**Friends, these probably won’t be my final thoughts on “rooted” but I will be focusing more on “joy” next as it’s my God-given #onewords365 for 2018. Watch this space!** 🙂