The State Of Your Roots
I am desperate. I am in pain. I am hurt. I am angry.
Those are words I very often hear. There is so much hurt in our generation. Hurt is evil, it’s a feeling of emptiness and despair, when you are blinded, vulnerable to pain and suffering. Pain could start with a tiny mark, but it has the potential to grow to the extend of gigantic forms of darkness in the span of a lifetime. Personally, at a time, God revealed to me feelings of anger in my own heart. Those slight feelings were there, but I could never understand why. I could think and analyze, but for some reason I could not pin the hatred, bitterness and anger. “Wait a minute. Where did THAT come from? Not me! Oh, God forgive me” I would say. I have gotten my answer: It is hidden pain & hurt from long years past. When someone commits a sin against you and pain is planted in your heart and you dwell in it, bitterness starts, it begins as a small seed. Sometimes we let that seed grow in our weakness, and the enemy sends the lies straight to our minds. The roots grow, the years pass and we start to develop into a big, blown up fruitless tree. You see, we’re trees. We’re meant to bear fruit. When evil has entered the roots of our hearts through pain and sorrow, our trees grow bitter and thus, IF ANY fruit does come out, it is damaged.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 – “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit”
Think about this verse for a second. If you’re a tree planted by the water that sends out its root by the stream, you’re meant to bear fruit without failing. If you’re a tree that doesn’t bear fruit, there is something wrong with your roots. In this case, you must take time to seek God and let him reveal to you the state of your roots. If pain and suffering from your past have affected your attitudes and have made you afraid, angry or bitter, then there is a problem in your roots. Our anger comes from the heart, and anger isn’t born in one day. Also happens with fear, it isn’t born in one day. It takes years to build, just like a seed takes time to become a tree, so our character take time to develop. If we are rooted in Christ Jesus, our fruits will be sweet and abundant. If you’re rooted in hurt, hate, anger, fear and suffering from your past, your fruits will be bitter and rare. Take time to pray so that God could search within you and reveal the current state of your roots. There may be things in your life that you don’t remember, and God is waiting for you to come to him so that he could show you and reveal to you the things hidden in your heart. It is a process and it takes time, but once the Holy Spirit brings freedom to your life, like the roots by the stream (Jeremiah 17:7-8), there is a change. There HAS to be a change.
If your roots are rotten with darkness, God must cut your tree and your roots from within and plant the seed of His heart back in your life. He has wonderful plans for our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11) If we just let him plant that seed and surrender our roots. His seed is full of love, grace & mercy. Just like this verse says in Colossians 2:6-7 – “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” When our hearts are rooted and built up in Him, we’re forever thankful and never ungrateful, loving and never hate, confident and never fear, joyful and never depressed, peaceful and never worried, and the list goes on…
Allow God to look within you and sweep your heart. Let him examine your motives and attitudes. (Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23) There are things in us that need God’s intervention. Let Him come in and cut your damaged roots. With His seed is the only way you can bear fruit. If your roots are corrupted, your fruits will also be corrupted. Roots are hidden under the ground, and you can’t see them. Unless God reveals to you the source of your attitudes, you will never be able to change completely. He has the seed for a fruitful life, and you will never be fruitful without Him.
Take some time to share with God all your worries, fears and pain. When our roots are influenced by the enemy, our trees die in bitterness and darkness. God wants to give you a fruitful life. Allow the Holy Spirit to plant His and He will make your fruits plenty and your life meaningful.