Your Roots Are Showing!

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson is not talking about hair roots showing and in need of coloring. She says, "Far more important than hair roots are our spiritual roots, and they do show!"

The story is told of a tree in California called the Dyerville Giant. According to Elliott Almond in the San Jose Mercury News (June 18, 2001), in 1991, after growing tall for more than 1,500 years, the 370-foot tree fell over. (You can see a photo here.)

It didn't fall because of a storm. It simply fell because its root system was no longer healthy. As its weakened root system failed, it could no longer anchor into the soil or receive much-needed nourishment. Top heavy but not grounded, it couldn't support its own weight. *

If we don't want to "fall," we need healthy roots too.

Healthy spiritual roots are made up of many things:

• A relationship with the Creator, the maker of all life;
• Grounding—strong convictions—in the fertile soil of the Word of God;
• Resilience developed through wise interactions with people; and
• Strength built in struggles and trials (tough circumstances).

Let's look at each of those individually.

1. We need to be rooted properly.

We need to be rooted in the right place ... more specifically, in the right Person!

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him ... (Colossians 2:6-7a, ESV).

We need to "abide" in the Lord (John 15:4) so we can be healthy and bear fruit.

2. We need to be grounded in faith.

Our faith must be in the Word of God so we will be established. This will not only bring us a sense of gratitude and well-being (healthy attitudes), but it will also help us not fall into various "religious" and cultural lies that could destroy our walk with God.

"... and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition..." (Colossians 2:7b-8a, ESV).

3. We need to be "tended" with love.

Roots must be protected with good soil, water and nutrients.

Likewise, through wise interactions with godly people and accountability, our lives are "tended"—protected and cared for—much like we care for a plant and nurture it.

It helps to have "a multitude" of wise counselors (Proverbs 15:22) and encouragers so we can learn from them and develop the resilience necessary to weather life's storms.

"... encourage one another and build one another up..." (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

4. We need to grow stronger.

Have you ever seen a plant grow in the cracks between slabs of cement, or protrude through a brick wall? That's a picture of how we need to be persistent in difficult circumstances—relying on the Lord and believing He has great purpose for us in hard times (Romans 8:28).

We build strength (and a lot of other wonderful qualities) as we struggle through the trials of life (1 Peter 1:6-9).

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4, ESV).

What I've discovered in life is this: my "roots" show to a watching world.

When I go through tough times, people learn pretty quickly where my foundations lie. They see whether I am grounded and strong.

And your roots are showing too!

Let's make sure our roots are healthy in the Lord and His Word, well tended and growing stronger each day.

Which of the four necessities for healthy spiritual roots might need some tender loving care in your life today?

Dawn Wilson, founder of Heart Choices Today and Upgrade with Dawn, is a contracted researcher for Revive Our Hearts. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

* The Dyerville Giant tree story was related by Barbara L. Roose in Enough Already (Abingdon Press), p. 109; See also news report.