This past spring, I had the opportunity to visit a few universities in California. Having seen on the news that the state was in a drought, I had assumed that I would see brown everywhere. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find green on the few hikes we took. The wildflowers were stunning and the view was breathtaking! What had happened was the area I was in had experienced rain in the days leading up to my visit that gave the thirsty land enough water to shine in its beauty.
But that beauty doesn’t last long when there is no rain. The land becomes dry and the plants wither due to the depth of their roots. They don’t go deep enough to reach the springs deep beneath the surface. I’ve experienced in my life a spiritual drought and thirsted for more – a deeper relationship with my Lord, deeper roots to quench my thirst over the long-haul.
Training camp for the World Race was ten days of gardening, if you will. We combed through the weeds in our lives and began to de-thorn ourselves to better see the beauty God has created in us. We lived in community, each part giving and receiving to display His majesty, and through it all I learned just how important our roots are.
In quiet time early on during camp, I felt the Lord lead me to a verse in the Bible. It may sound crazy, but I asked that God give me something to look at in the Bible… Immediately, I felt foolish – Who am I to ask God to show me His goodness?! God took this moment and made something beautiful of it. He led me to the first step in a deeper relationship with Him. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
“Okay, Lord” and a chuckle was all I could muster in response. The rest of the week, I went confidently in asking the Lord to speak with me, to offer guidance. He did not disappoint! After a night of “weeding” my spiritual garden, I took some quiet time, again, to ask the Lord the meaning of a vision prophesied over me. A squad-mate had seen me as a rose with thorns, so my prayer to God was pretty simple…”Cool picture, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!”. Again, He led me to my Bible and as I flipped through the pages, I stopped and read from Luke;
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable: 5“A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Other seed fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
9 Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.
10 He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘Though seeing they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
11 Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Fitting with my analogy of gardening, God spoke to me about my roots. God deeply desires our roots to be grounded in Him and His word. He is the only one who has the water that will quench our thirst, but we have to want our seed to be in the good soil.
My life has been a windstorm, my seed of faith blowing from the thorns to the good soil and back again. When our roots lack depth, it is so easy to be blown around. To only believe for a season, when it suits us; to be choked by the thorns of this life, the need to live by society’s standards rather than His. I am guilty of allowing my life to be focused on the now, and not eternity; to be distracted from His love and grace. And yet, I thirst.
Like every living thing, we need water to survive. Coincidence? No. How amazing is it that in all of us, we thirst. It’s a natural sign of our need for deeper roots in our loving Father and relationship with Him!
As I left training camp, I began my prayer for deeper roots – roots that would allow for me to produce good fruit! God is calling us to take time to allow the Holy Spirit into our lives as the Great Gardener. The Spirit is the wind that blows us into the good soil; He weeds out our insecurities and de-thorns the distractions of this world, planting within us the Word and stretching our roots to go deeper to drink from God’s well.
So now, I have to ask, when is the last time you’ve done some gardening within your soul? Take it from someone who waited awhile to begin, start now! The world is so much more beautiful when we allow for the Word to be planted and take root within us, not because the world has changed, but because He changes the way we see the world.
Much Love,
Morgan
