When we look at the flowers and trees and grasses that surround us, it is easy to see what’s above the ground and to pay no attention to what’s underneath the surface of the soil.
Certain plants grow in certain types of dirt, and just by looking at the roots of a plant, we can often tell where in the world it originated.
Takes grasses, for example. They make a good ground cover, and everyone loves a beautiful lawn. Yet, in dry climates we want Bermuda. It puts down deep roots, and even in extreme drought, it can find the last of the water to sustain it until the rains come again.
The oak tree is the same. The oak’s roots don’t spread across the lawn, absorbing moisture from the topsoil. Rather, they shoot deep into the earth where the water table can feed its thirst. Water an oak tree too much, and we will kill it. It needs dry weather.
Then look to Hawaii. The first plants we will see growing on barren lava fields are the Ohi’a Lehua trees, producing the official red blooms of the Big Island. This tree needs no soil to grow. It pulls moisture directly from the air, dropping long roots into hidden lava tubes, making it perfect for populating new lava fields.
Our roots tell who we are. They matter. Plant Bermuda on that lava field, and no matter how much we water it, it will die. The oak tree is the same. A Maine spruce? Its roots run just feet under the soil, and it requires frequent rain. It loves a rocky coastline, but don’t give it Hawaii, not on a lava field. It will starve to death.
What do our Christian roots tell about us? Where do we grow best? Are we a spruce, tall and substantial in appearance, but susceptible to the winds of life’s storms? Or are we an oak with our roots reaching deep to find God’s strength in the dry times?
Or are we an Ohi’a, able to thrive in barren conditions, because we can absorb God from the very air that surrounds us?
1 John 4:8 says that if we do not show love, we do not know God.
2 Peter 3:9 reveals God’s patience, and that he will continually nourish us.
John 18:36 tells us the sustenance of God is not to be found in our earthly existence.
Luke 1:35 is our assurance that the Holy Spirit overshadows every moment of our days, and he brings us the power of the Most High.
So, what sort of roots do we have? Will the drought of a long illness dry our blooms? Or will our invisible roots find the hidden nourishment that comes from the Father above?
When we are rooted in Jesus, we pull our energy directly from the source, and it can never be used up or cut off.
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