It's Not About Size!
I come from a place of tall evergreens; large maples; and lush green forests. The place my heart calls home for nine months of the year is flanked with two majestic mountain ranges and surrounded by a salty abundance of blue water. Outdoorsy humans move to this place with daily opportunities to savor the deep colors; fragrant aromas; and stunning natural beauty. If you take a few moments and chat with the locals, they will be quick to tell you that it is not a place you land accidentally. It is a place you choose.
Earlier this month we had snowmageddon and the aftermath of this epic storm has been many toppled trees. This has allowed for an up close look at their root systems. For the longest time, I delusionally believed that most trees root systems were naturally deep in the ground with their survival depending on a deep, strong taproot. Standing in front of the uprooted root systems, I realize I am one hundred shades of wrong. Many of these gigantic beauties have not been successful in growing a big tap root, so instead they grew a shallow root system that is two to three times the diameter of the largest part of the tree.
Since I am a curious soul, I started exploring the why of this. Here is what I found. Roots require three things for deep root architecture: plenty of water; oxygen; and loose soil that allows for good drainage. All the huge beautiful trees that fell over during the snowmageddon had shallow root systems due to hard packed soil conditions which did not allow for deep root architecture.
Colossians 2:7 encourages us to cultivate a root structure that grows, not only wide, but deep into God and His ways. Our heart is the soil where this takes place. So, the question begs to be examined: “How do we keep the soil of our heart soft so that we can grow that deep, strong tap root to hold us in place during the chaos of life?” Maybe, like me you’ve discovered that it is the routines and rhythms that we make into habits which will determine the type of soil in our hearts. If you find yourself with hardening soil, maybe it’s time for some tactical tweaks in your habit life. Here are some that I find helpful: Get enough sleep; Excercise; Start and end my day chatting with God; Listen to music that is uplifting or focuses on God; Memorize verses; Limit TV shows that don’t make me laugh; Limit exposure to social media; and get outdoors. God will not do for you, what you can do for yourself. If your soil is hard or hardening, just give some of these a try for a couple weeks and see if it softens things up.
Until We Chat Again,
Crystal
