Roots.

Last weekend, there was a huge storm in my city, and on our way to church the next day, a lot of the roads were blocked with trees that had fallen over. We literally had to turn around three times to find clear routes. I saw these massive trees that were shaken up completely from their roots and I wondered how they could have been so shaken up despite their size. 

As we drove past the trees, I remembered the parable of Jesus about the house built on rock and the house built on sand, and I realized that these two houses would have looked the same on the outside, but ONLY the storm would test the strength of the foundation. Because you can’t determine the strength of a foundation merely by looking on the outside of a house. 

Challenges come to test the purity of our faith. To test the genuineness of a life dedicated and entrusted to God—not because of the bread that He gives, but the bread that He is to you. It’s easy to serve God when life is going well, but showing up, loving and still serving in the face of challenges and sometimes even wondering why people that you feel haven’t made as many sacrifices for God as you, are easily having things you have long prayed for; that right there is not easy AT ALL.

But it’s in these moments of difficulty that your faith is refined to produce purity, patience and maturity. This is what James 1:2-4 talks about. 

Some people have left the faith because they never had a personal encounter with God. They were sold the idea that life will be perfect and Jesus will take away all their problems. Don’t get me wrong, life does get difficult and hope deferred can be really hard. Some people have had a genuine desire to be faithful, but one difficulty after another made them exhausted from holding on to the faith. God sees. He really does. However, the reality is, When you don’t encounter God for yourself, and only follow God for the material things you’ll get, your roots will be shallow, and you will bend to the tides.

Because an encounter won’t guarantee that the storms won’t come, but an encounter will always bring you back to the place of encounter when they come. 

When you are faced with a difficult situation, remember that God is strengthening your roots and purifying your faith—teaching you to love Him, and keep serving in and out of season.

So dear friend, submit to God’s refining process and let Him deepen your roots.