Something’s Happening
For Science class, Bella and I planted some beans so we could watch them grow. The experiment called for a glass jar, dirt, a paper towel, and a couple beans. The paper towel lined the glass jar and the beans were placed in the space between the paper towel and the glass. The purpose of this experiment was so we could see what was happening under the dirt- a sort of window into the plant’s growth.
By the second day things were already happening. We were able to see daily changes after that. Interestingly enough, there was a large network of roots underground and still nothing above the surface of the dirt. It took about a week before we started seeing the plant poke through the dirt. But once it poked through the dirt, it shot up and real fast large leaves were popping all over that stem.
It got me thinking. Isn’t that like our walk with Jesus sometimes?
We may be praying and praying about something and not seeing anything. We wonder why God seems silent, why He still hasn’t answered even though we are praying and praying, but God is working it all out. Stuff is happening, but we just haven’t seen it come to pass yet. It’s all under the surface until the exact time God just explodes that answer out and it’s even better than we thought it would be. It’s just what we needed.
Or maybe you feel a calling on your life, but it just doesn’t seem to come to fruition. You’ve been working, you’ve been praying, you’ve been studying the Word, but it seems that at every turn there’s a new hurdle. You’re discouraged.
Can I just encourage us for a second today? All the hurdles, all the praying, all the struggling, all the hard life experiences you’ve gone through (or are going through), all the studying you’ve been doing trying to discern the path and grow in your knowledge, trying to fulfill the calling God placed on your heart – He needs you to have the muscles it takes to fulfill your calling. You aren’t going to gain those muscles without some struggle. You aren’t going to be a strong and fruitful plant if those roots aren’t developed and doing their job. Have you considered that your life experiences are part of your calling? Part of your growth process? The wind will blow, the weather will change, the soil may go dry at times, but with a network of strong roots, that plant (you) can continue to flourish. The calling God has for you is going to take a strong network of roots- strong spiritual muscles. And at the right time, when those roots are developed, you can pop out from the dirt into your calling and have exactly what you need to handle it. Just like that plant can’t stand a whole lot of struggles and ‘weight’ without that strong network of roots, neither can we stand the weight and struggles of our calling without the strong spiritual grounding.
We also observed that some roots reached all the way to the bottom of the jar. Those deep reaching roots reminded me of the depth we need in our root system. The depth of the Word. Daily studying and learning. Those deep roots can pull the nutrition from far down when it’s lacking on the top. They are strong, grounded, untouchable. So are we when we are grounded in the Word. We aren’t going to be moved easily. We can reach into the Word that’s been hidden in our hearts when everything else seems to be going dry. It’s steadfast. It doesn’t change. It’s strong.
We also observed the sheer number of roots that reached all over the jar. That plant wasn’t going to grow, much less truly flourish, without all those roots. Much like us, we need the network of roots. We study the Bible, we pray, we spend time in communion with others, we go to church, we are involved in ministries… All that we do comes together to help our growth. We can’t truly flourish with just one root. We can’t flourish if all we do is check a box of church attendance on Sunday. We can’t flourish if all we do is pray a little here and there. We can’t truly flourish if we quickly open our Bible or phone for a little daily ‘drip of water’ and then run off for our day barely remembering what we read. Everything needs to come together. Lots of good roots. All those roots pulling from different parts of the dirt to help that plant flourish into something strong and fruit bearing (or bean bearing in our case).
Keep going. Keep praying. Keep studying. Keep seeking God. Keep growing that network of strong roots. At just the right time, God will pop an amazing plant out of the dirt and it will be even better than you imagined.
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