2 Corinthians 6:11-13 MSG, “Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
Ladies, YOU were created to live your lives in BIG ways – openly & expansively! What causes us to live our lives in small ways? I believe it is all in where we are rooted.
God’s love notes are everywhere. The key to receiving them is being willing to pause and listen – letting our gaze look upon what may seem insignificant so that God can whisper a message of significance into our soul.
One afternoon I was walking along my old country road, and my eyes were drawn to a little apple orchard. I had walked by this orchard countless times, but this day was different. There was a nudging that wouldn’t go away. So I slowed down to listen. My eyes began to scan the little orchard. I saw some trees with abundant fruit while others were rather small, and a few were toppled over – cut off completely from the roots. As I listened a flow of thoughts began to come. “Life is like an apple orchard” was the first of many. How so? I was now curious and my ears fully perked. The thoughts were flowing faster than my little fingers could type. “What size, quality, and quantity of fruit the tree produces depends on where the tree is rooted. It has never been about the tree but always about what the tree is rooted in.”
If we are rooted in fear or in the lies and pain of our past, believing we are “not enough”, “damaged”, or “worthless” then our trees will bare the fruit of these beliefs. The fruit will look something like depression, anxiety, self-loathing, broken relationships, shame, alcoholism, anorexia. On and on this list may go.
If, however, we are rooted in God’s Word and how He see us, the fruit we produce looks more like purpose, love, joy, peace, kindness, mercy, self-forgiveness, acceptance, hope. We are unhindered by our past and free to SHINE our light for CHRIST when we realize our identity is in how He sees us!
We must refuse to let our past define us. What needs healed in your heart so that you can begin to open up to God’s truth for your life? If you read over the lines that follow and you find it hard to receive them as words that describe you, I would suggest spending some time in prayer and ask the Lord, “What is in my heart that rejects what you say about me?”
God looks at you and says, “You are mine, You are chosen, You are a masterpiece, You are treasured, valued, an heir to all I own. You are accepted, called, and equipped. You are clean, pure, forgiven and worthy. You are beautiful and I delight in YOU!”
God is the healer, the name-changer, the promise- keeper, and the dream-igniter. No matter how damaged your tree has become or how your roots first sprouted; no matter the storms you have experienced – even if you feel completely blown over, you can find purpose again. BUT, we have to be willing to uproot the old, endure the pain of change, and face our deepest fears. The old lies have to be replaced with the only Truth that can set us free – God’s WORD. The Bible says to take all thoughts captive that don’t line up with His truth. WHY? Because when we don’t we wither, we lose hope, and we produce more and more of the enemy’s plan for our lives.
It never has been about us, but always about WHO we are rooted in! God takes our dead things and makes them new. He peers right through the layers of pain that have withered our lives and sees us for the tree He knows we can be. He pursues us gently with His grace and acceptance.
It does not matter how damaged you feel -the day you plug your roots into His truth is the day you will find new life spring from your branches again. You were designed with a specific purpose that only your tree can produce.
May today be the day you find your roots in Him; realizing no matter what your tree looks like, you serve a God who specializes in making the impossible…POSSIBLE!
Be blessed and seek to be a blessing!
Josie