ROOT WHERE YOU’RE PLANTED (Guest Blogger: Sara Thorsby)
Succulents are a really cool type of plant. Their leaves are usually puffy and full of fluid. They’re a family of plants that includes cacti and aloe, just to name a few. The juicy leaves enable them to go a while without water, and one of the neatest things about them is that if you break off a piece of the plant and put it in some dirt, it’ll usually take root in a few weeks and become its own plant – growing on its own and producing shoots off of itself that can be broken off and replanted, continuing the cycle of replication.
One particular type of succulent I’ve been trying to ‘breed’ is called “Chicks-n-Hens.” The hens are the bigger plants, and they’re surrounded by little off-shoots (chicks). Sometimes it can get pretty crowded in the planter with all the Chicks-n-Hens and it gets to a point that if you want them to survive at all, you have to separate them – give them some breathing room and growing space – so that they can thrive. So I’m thinking I can break off the Chicks… stick ‘em in some dirt… water… wait… and voila! They’ll start growing like all the other succulents, right?
WRONG. These chicks were stubborn!!! The bottom leaves kept folding down, pushing the plant up out of the dirt and exposing the stem that needed to root. The stems would then dry out and kill the plant before it even got rooted. Half of them died after about a month of cautiously cultivating and even smooshing them back into the dirt! I started thinking a) this is weird, and b) God, what are you trying to teach me? I mean, I’ve never seen a plant with such a death wish!
I think it was at that point that God said, “Well, since you asked, this is what I’m trying to tell you:
Sometimes, I want you to break away from the busyness, take root, and grow on your own. Even if it’s dry, or lonely, or you feel like you’re too distant from me. You’re not… I’m here with you, your living water, your comforter, your cultivator. Even if you feel like I’m smooshing you deeper into a ‘dirt’y or unpleasant situation, it’s only because I want you to mature and take root on your own (the Hen), and eventually make disciples (Chicks) who follow after me. And at the right time, I’ll take those Chicks away from you and help them root on their own so that they can become Hens and make Chicks too. Now, how could I possibly accomplish all that if you keep trying to uproot yourself? Dig in, dig deep, and take root where I’ve planted you so I can create growth in your life – otherwise, you’re committing spiritual suicide and you’ll be completely unusable in my kingdom, besides ending up as fertilizer for those plants that do take root.”
So ask yourself this: Am I rooted, rooting, or uprooting? Am I established in my relationship with Christ (and still seeking), getting established, or trying to get as far away from Christ as possible? Am I mature and growing, young and growing, or dying? It’s important to remember that God deeply and passionately loves us all and desires for us to grow in Him, but he cannot help cultivate our spiritual growth if we continuously try to uproot ourselves from where He’s planted us. Let’s dig in and dig deep, despite the temporary discomforts, and look for more growth than we could’ve ever imagined!