by Dennis and Barbara Rainey
July 20
How Deep Are Your Roots? John 15:4,5
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
A few years ago I was working in my office when the sky suddenly became dark. The trees began to bend, rain started coming down horizontally and a tornado siren went off. We got word that a tornado was coming right up the street.I dashed out and joined all our office staff who were already underneath the concrete stairwell, and prayed. We stayed there for about five minutes, and then we got the all clear and came out. Well, that tornado "bounced" right over our office, touched down 50 feet away and uprooted several massive pine trees.
Looking at those trees, I noticed something fascinating. One pine tree lying across the road must have been over a hundred years old. But about 50 feet away was an oak tree still standing tall, with only a few limbs broken off.
I learned afterward that pine trees have a terribly shallow root system, leaving them susceptible to damaging strong winds. But the root systems of oak trees go deep into the soil, and they can withstand storms much better.
In the same way, there are going to be storms of adversity in your life. To the degree that you obey God, you dig your roots down deep, giving you the strength of character to withstand storms. Or to use the metaphor Christ used in John 15, you need to abide in Him, as a branch abides in the vine.
I think the reason some Christians lose heart during times of trial is that their roots are terribly shallow. They are not abiding in Christ-drawing their lives from Him on a daily basis. You and I cannot prepare ourselves on the day the storm hits, we must practice obedience to Christ today. The storms will come. Will you be obedient today?
Prayer:
For one another that you will practice "abiding in Christ" today so that when the storm hits you'll stand strong as a couple.
Discuss: How deep are your roots of faith? Is there something in your life right now that God has been speaking to you about that requires your obedience?