We were right in the middle of one of the worst storms I have ever witnessed. The winds were howling. The rain was pouring in torrents. My husband vigorously worked in the rain to divert the water that had found its way right under the main door and into our living room. My daughters, a friend who’d visited and I, worked hard to fold up the already wet carpet and to dry out the water.
We had no way of knowing that a number of meters away, our brother’s family had scampered to safety away from their house because five of the over ten-year old cypress trees around their compound had been brought down by the storm. They had left in a rush when the first of the trees came down with a thud.
Miraculously, by what I can only say was God’s grace and intervention, their house was not touched. Providentially, the trees fell in every direction except their house. Some of the trees had actually fallen right beside their house!
On one of our many walks around our beautiful countryside, my husband and I were stopped in our tracks at the sight of a tree fallen by the wayside. Two things struck us about this tree; one, it was huge. Two, it had fallen by the roots. It could have been a storm that brought it down. Such a huge tree literally up by the roots? We walked on, musing as we went at the strange sight.
I have been talking foundations in a number of blog posts so far. What this means is that I have been reflecting on the topic of foundations a lot lately. I couldn’t help but compare foundations and root systems as I continued with my reflections. Just as a foundation needs to be strong, stable and deep to hold a building, so does a root system. The root system of a tree should go deep and wide to hold a tree in place.
The bigger the tree grows, the deeper its tap root goes and the wider its fibrous roots spread. This is to ensure the tree has a wider surface area to tap the much-needed nutrients and water. Should a violent storm come, as much as possible, the tree with a stable root system will not give way.
This brings me to Colossians 2:6-7:
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”
Let me ask: What is the will of God once we sort matters foundation? Well, His will is that we continue in Him! We don’t stop! We keep on getting rooted and built up in Him. Paul, who said these words in his epistle to the Colossians, introduces us to the root system illustration. Like a tree keeps getting rooted in the soil, spreading out its roots both deep and wide for water and nutrients, so should we. We are to keep going deep and wide in Christ Jesus.
The deeper and wider that tree goes, the stronger and more stable it becomes. In the same way, the deeper and wider a Christian goes in Christ Jesus, the stronger they become in Him.
There is a small eucalyptus tree I keep taking note of on our farm almost every time I pass by it. It looks so small and vulnerable. I often can’t help imagining how effortlessly I can pull up that little tree, expose it and in a few days, it will be withered out and dry. Ten years from now, if I passed that way, it might probably take a bulldozer to try pull up that tree that will have grown into a big tree. The deeper and wider that tree is going, the higher and stronger it is going to be. I hope that is sufficient illustration for you, woman of God, in your desire to grow in depth in your knowledge of Christ.
Research has actually shown that some of the most drought-resistant trees are the trees whose tap root has gone really deep underground to tap into that underground source of water. Despite its climatic condition, that tree will be ever green; being fruitful in its season, without fail.
Paul is giving us the secret to remaining evergreen in spite of the goings-on around us; in spite of the seasons of life; in spite of the storms; whether our circumstances change or not; in all, we are to remain rooted in Christ.
What does this mean for me as a woman? The Bible gives another illustration in the first Psalm; Psalm 1:
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
The psalmist likens a blessed man to a tree planted by streams of water. It yields its fruit in season. Its leaf doesn’t wither; its evergreen. For a woman to be formed to be the godly woman God wants them to be, they must be rooted in Christ. They must be built up in Him.
Psalm 1 gives us further clarity: This woman must delight in God’s law, meditating on it day and night. Anchoring in Christ; getting rooted in him, is about immersing oneself in God’s Word. It is about committing to hearing God’s Word, reading it, studying it, memorizing it and meditating on it. It is about committing to obeying God’s Word no matter what.
I say all the above because, when the psalmist talks of meditating on this law; God’s Word, I cannot do this in a vacuum. It must be that I am listening to and or hearing the Word. I’m reading it. I’m studying it. I’m memorizing it. In other words, I am closely interacting with God’s Word in order to daily and consistently meditate on it.
When I was a new believer, I committed to daily reading God’s Word. I may have failed a few times but on the whole, God enabled me to be consistent in this. I had been told to do so. I had been told that that’s what a new Christian should do. I didn’t know much else. I didn’t know hermeneutics and homiletics and… name them; at least at the time.
Two years down the line, my faith was strengthened. The first thing those around me attested to when I joined campus was that I prayed God’s Word. A strong conviction to get baptized in water started growing as I interacted with God’s Word and hence a realization of what I needed to do. It culminated in my being baptized four years or so later. The delay is a story for another day. Let me only say, God was gracious to me.
God would later connect me with a ministry through which I learnt to devotionally commune with God in His Word. I also learnt to study and memorize His Word. I learnt to hear the Words of Jesus and to put them into practice in a deliberate way, much more than I had been doing.
What am I saying in all these? Formations of a noble woman happen because the basis; the foundation of this woman is God’s Word. Spiritual transformation by God’s Spirit happens as the Holy Spirit works in a believer through the God-breathed Word of God to bring about God ordained permanent change in the believer’s life for good. We will expound a little more on this in future blog posts.
So, are you getting rooted and built up in Christ? Is the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly? (Col 3:16) Reflect on these two questions prayerfully. See what you will do about this. We will continue with this discussion in our next blog.