Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A Gentle Reminder

Have you in your walk ever feel like God was somewhere else?

Sometimes we may be perfectly in Gods will and yet feel forgotten. We begin to doubt and wonder where the problem could be. We look around with a sense of fear that we did something wrong. We allow our human understandings to creep in and view God as human, there one minute and gone the next.

Gods hand is always there. He will never let you go. Even though we may not feel it. This is where we must have faith and trust. Could this be God giving us a reminder to keep looking to him? Perhaps we are giving in to routine? Maybe he is preparing us for an upcoming challenge?

Troubles can come upon us even if we are in the will of the Lord. Our challenge is to remain focused and not be swayed. This will build character and deepen our roots. Much like a tree will deepen its roots looking for the water and oxygen to sustain itself. If its current depth seems to be drying up it grows its roots to search for the nutrients it seeks.

A tree has its main roots called perennial roots, these sustain the tree. Trees also have what are called feeder roots. These are smaller roots that spring off of the perennial root. While perennial roots are large and stabilize the tree and anchor it, the feeder roots are much smaller and tend to die off and are replaced by new feeder roots on a regular basis. The job of a feeder root is to gather the water and oxygen the tree needs to live.

In our spiritual walk our core beliefs are Jesus' death and resurrection, Jesus appearing to his disciples and ascension into Heaven, and Jesus' eventual return to take all believers to Heaven. These are our perennial roots. They are always there. Big and strong stabilizing us. Even though you cannot see these roots, for they lie under ground, they are always there.

As for our feeder roots. These are our experiences in our Christian walk. From the day we are saved, to the day we are baptized, our blessings from God, our answers to prayer, every verse we read, every sermon we hear, every time we are inspired from God, all of these things give nutrients to our spiritual man. They come and they go. Many different experiences throughout our lifetime. The issue is that we don't always feel excited about our walk. The feelings die and the mountain top experience fades. We need to continue in our walk and continue to have our experiences. Growing new feeder roots as the others die out. When we lose the feeling and nutrients from one, we need to have another to get the Living Water we need.

When we may be becoming blah in our relationship with God he gives us that empty feeling. Its His gentle nudge so we can spend the needed time with him. His reminder that its time to grow a new feeder root.

If we maintain our roots, what others see; our trunk, branches, leaves, and best of all, our fruit can be used to help others in their walk. Seeing us flourish can be a feeder root for fellow Christians.

Maintain your roots. Continue to grow feeder roots. Read your Bible, have a healthy prayer life, listen to uplifting music, get involved in a local church, use your God-given gifts to minister to others, and do whatever is needed to grow your relationship with Jesus. The more time you spend with Him the fewer the empty moments you'll have.



John 10:27-29


27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.



No comments: