“As we stay rooted in God’s Word, we will grow, blossom, and bear fruit wherever we are.”
Cheri Fuller
Living in Arizona over half of my life has made me appreciate and ponder how cacti survive the summer heat with the lack of rain. Likewise, how can we endure droughts during the dry seasons or trials in our lives? The solution is to develop a root system.
The Saguaro cactus has a very shallow root system and one deep tap root that extends down into the ground as tall as the cactus, four to six feet long. The cacti’s extensive shallow root system spreads out and sits under the soil’s surface. When the rains come, the cacti absorb as much water as possible and stores it in their bodies for future use.
As believers, it’s imperative that we become rooted, or established, so that when there is little rain, we are still “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm one, verse three) The Word encourages us to be “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17b), and be “rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:7).
It’s essential to become established so that when trials come, and they will come, we have what we need stored up within us, to not only survive, but thrive. I have gone through “pressure cooker” seasons in my life, where the heat is turned up in several situations around me. I didn’t know when they would end or how I would get through them. The only thing I knew was that God was with me and he would somehow, in some way, help me rise above and provide what I needed.
We become rooted by spending time with God in his Word and in two-way prayer, talking to God and listening and obeying his voice. Fasting, fellowship with other believers, and being firmly grounded in who God is and who we are, establishes and prepares us for the droughts up ahead.
I encourage you to have your intimacy with Christ go deep, as one tap root. Consistently build an extensive shallow root system by spending time with the Lord and soaking up the Holy Spirit’s rain, so you will still flourish during sun-scorched seasons of life.
“The Lord promises that if we delight in God’s Word and deeply root our hearts to it, if we meditate on it and follow it, we will prosper, and our lives will keep producing fruit.”
Cheri Fuller
Relevant Reflection:
What steps can you take to deepen your root system with God?