How are Your Roots this Summer?

How does growth come to a plant? How did these cucumber plants grow to overflowing our garden this year?

How did these sage, basil, parsley (and more) herb plants grow so lush this summer? Producing so bountifully that this is the year that I am trying out preserving them with my new dehydrator?

And these impatience flowers on our patio, how did they grow to be so beautiful, overflowing their planter, filling us with their beauty each day?

And how about me, and how about you ... how are we doing this summer?

It has probably been the most unusual time of our lives for each of us. We've gone through five months now of a global pandemic with all the repercussions that have affected many or all of us in some way or another. And on top of all that, just when we were maybe starting to catch our breath, we have seen unrest on our streets. And in our land.

How are we doing with all this? Is it possible to not only survive, but also to thrive and grow, even in the midst of this intense heat?

I've been reminded often. I've needed to be reminded often. That bitterness, anger, and complaining do not bring results, and do not bring the beauty that we all long for in our lives. Bitterness and anger lead to more bitterness and anger. We've seen that happening.

There is a better way. In our efforts to help, to survive these challenging times, and in our need to be healthy and productive, we need to be sure to nurture the soil of our hearts. Daily, each day. To let our roots grow down to keep us strong.

Let your roots grow down into Him,

and let your lives be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong

in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow with thankfulness.

(Colossians 2:7 NLT)

But how does this happen; what is it that feeds our roots, and what brings growth?

I have found that it is in the daily, in the moment-by-moment living of our days ... turning towards the Son, reaching towards the life-giving water. Picking up His Words, reading with our minds and our hearts; pausing, responding, receiving His love. To pause, be still, and receive.

To be still is to receive.

To faithfully pause, to soak up His love and His Grace.

The soaking up, the receiving, is what brings growth.

To still our souls is to open the door to receive.

To be what we were created to be.

To grow into something beautiful.

By His power alone.

Becoming beautiful and fruitful. For Him.

It's what I see in our gardens; our veggie garden, our herb garden, our flower pots on our patio. I see stillness. A receiving. A depending on the Creator to bring the growth.

But blessed are those 

who trust in the Lord, 

and have made the Lord 

their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted

along a riverbank

with roots that reach 

deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered

by the heat or worried

by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop

producing fruit.

(Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT)

Lord, may our roots grow down into Your Truth, Your Words, each day.

May we rest, even in the midst of the heat, 

as Your Words settle down into the deepest places of our hearts.

May our roots be strong, and our fruit be honoring to You,

bringing beauty and growth that will spread to a needy world.