Roots of faith for young and old.
Over the last few weeks, South Australia and other parts of eastern states have faced some massive storms. Cyclone strength winds, rain, flooding landslides and statewide power outages have battered the state and left people struggling and questioning what season it really is.
I have done a bit of driving recently, from my home in Naracoorte to Adelaide. I have seen the affects of the weather on the land across the state as I've travelled and there is a few things which has stood out to me.
Being the good theological student I am, I have reflected on this experience from a lens of the bible and some of my own internal turmoil currently. Let me share some of my reflections with you.
The main thing i have noticed is that the strong winds and ground which is unusually wet often results in trees falling over. Now some trees stay standing tall, but others seem to fall over, why is that?
I think the thing that makes the trees fall over is that the tree roots aren't deep enough, so when the wind comes, they just get flattened. Trees need to have strong roots to keep them standing when the strong wind comes.
In the parable of the sower found in Mark 4 Jesus talks about when seed is scattered on rocky surfaces it grows but has shallow roots and doesn't withstand the weather but the seed which grows needs to have good soil and roots which go deep.
I've heard this story a lot, and it has reminded me to have Jesus as my soil and to go deep. But the thing I realised during the storms is that some of the trees that fell were really old and some were quite young, others were just in the middle. But the problem they all had was in their shallow roots. It's easy to think deep roots come with age and while it's true that the more time you have the deeper you can get its important to right from the start try and go deep.
So I looked at the destruction of the storms and I reflected on how I don't want to grow old and just be knocked over by a massive event in my life, just as I don't want to at any point. I want to remain standing tall, strong and even if I'm a little battered still firm in my foundations when I'm faced with damaging situations.
When I see a fallen tree now, I pause for a moment and reflect and pray that God will sustain and grow me so that I can stand tall and strong and have roots that go deep.
I have done a bit of driving recently, from my home in Naracoorte to Adelaide. I have seen the affects of the weather on the land across the state as I've travelled and there is a few things which has stood out to me.
Being the good theological student I am, I have reflected on this experience from a lens of the bible and some of my own internal turmoil currently. Let me share some of my reflections with you.
The main thing i have noticed is that the strong winds and ground which is unusually wet often results in trees falling over. Now some trees stay standing tall, but others seem to fall over, why is that?
I think the thing that makes the trees fall over is that the tree roots aren't deep enough, so when the wind comes, they just get flattened. Trees need to have strong roots to keep them standing when the strong wind comes.
In the parable of the sower found in Mark 4 Jesus talks about when seed is scattered on rocky surfaces it grows but has shallow roots and doesn't withstand the weather but the seed which grows needs to have good soil and roots which go deep.
I've heard this story a lot, and it has reminded me to have Jesus as my soil and to go deep. But the thing I realised during the storms is that some of the trees that fell were really old and some were quite young, others were just in the middle. But the problem they all had was in their shallow roots. It's easy to think deep roots come with age and while it's true that the more time you have the deeper you can get its important to right from the start try and go deep.
So I looked at the destruction of the storms and I reflected on how I don't want to grow old and just be knocked over by a massive event in my life, just as I don't want to at any point. I want to remain standing tall, strong and even if I'm a little battered still firm in my foundations when I'm faced with damaging situations.
When I see a fallen tree now, I pause for a moment and reflect and pray that God will sustain and grow me so that I can stand tall and strong and have roots that go deep.
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