Can you believe it’s almost the end of February??? This year is flying by. I have a lot of things that I have to take care of this year, so I feel like I’m on a runaway train. But GOD knows. And He is laying down the tracks right ahead of me. All I have to do is trust Him.
Ugh. TRUST Him. Is that easy for you? I like to think I have this “Trust” thing down, but sometimes –most of the time–I do not. I try to take control of it myself.
And I think we both know how that ends.
How to Grow Your Faith
I was listening to a devotional last week about the Parable of the Sower. I’ve heard and read this parable numerous times. You probably have too. But when I listened to it again, I heard something new. A nugget. One of those “oh reallllly” moments that I just love when I’m reading scripture. God always has something new for us to learn.
Here’s the passage from Mark 4: 5-6(FBV):
“Other seeds fell on stony ground where there wasn’t much earth. In the shallow soil the plants started growing quickly, but because the soil wasn’t deep they were scorched when the sun came up. Since they didn’t have any real roots, they soon withered.”
The devotional leader explained that when a tree experiences a drought, when things get hot, when the sun is scorching it, it thrusts its roots deeper in the ground for nourishment. For water. For life.
When life gets hard, when the world scorches us, when it’s all too hot to bear, do we deepen our roots (our faith) or do we shrivel up and wither away?
What is Your Purpose?
Jeremiah mentions quite the same thing in chapter 17. And knowing Jesus, this is probably what He was referencing in the parable. Here are verses 7 and 8:
“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, who put their confidence in him. They are like trees planted by water, sending out roots toward the stream. They don’t panic when it gets hot; their leaves are always green. They don’t worry during a time of drought—they go on producing fruit.” (emphasis mine)
I love so many things about these verses, especially the “don’t panic” and “don’t worry” parts. But read this again–> “They go on producing fruit.”
Wow. What do you think of that? Even though it may not feel like it, even if you’re getting a good ole sunburn, no matter what life throws at us, with our roots rooted in Jesus, we will go on producing fruit.
His fruit.
God created the trees for this purpose: to bear fruit. He created us for the exact same thing. We are to bear His fruit, too.
Faith can be a fickle thing. We can learn a lot from the nature of trees. I’m committed to deepening my roots today. I know it may be hard, but I’m going to try my best. How do you feel about it?
I want to close with one more scripture and it’s one of my faves. It’s about trees, too.
Psalms 1:1-3 says, “Happy are those who don’t follow the advice of the wicked. They refuse to adopt the ways of sinful people, and they don’t make fun of others. Instead they love to do what the law of the Lord says, and they think about it day and night. They’re like trees growing by flowing rivers, producing fruit every season. Their leaves never wither, and they are successful in all they do.”
Are you asking yourself, “How do I grow in Christ?”
Can you see the similarities in the subtle nuances of the verses? Man, I love the Word. I’ve included links to the scriptures below if you’d like to dive more into these passages. And if you need a Bible app, the YouVersion Bible app is a great one. You can get it at www.bible.com or in your app store.
Chat soon! Keep those roots growing. 💖
~Chelle
Stay Encouraged & Inspired!
P.S. Hello again!
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Blessings,
~Chelle💖 aka Dawn Michelle Michals
Click here if you’d like to read Mark 4 over at Bible.com.
Dawn Michelle Michals - Christian Writer of Short Daily Devotionals for Today 