Fearlessly forward – Day 12

When last have you studied a palm tree? It is one of the strongest trees we have. It can survive in barren, dry environments, because the root system stretches down into the ground to reach the nearest water. It also is able to survive a hurricane in which some of the other trees might be plucked from the ground. How? The palm tree is created with the ability to bend over — even to the point of being horizontal to the ground — without breaking. Once the storm is over, the tree will simply rise again. Stronger. With deeper roots. If you look at video clips of palm trees amidst a hurricane, it seems as if they are dancing in the storm.

Sometimes we go through dry, barren periods in our lives in which it feels as if God has forgotten about us. We pray, but it seems as if our prayers bounce back from the roof when we don’t experience an immediate change in our situations. Other times it is as if a hurricane hits our lives in the form of a divorce, death of a loved one, financial loss, illness or an unfair retrenchment at work. Both these seasons create opportunities for us to let our roots grow deeper into the soil as we continue to seek God’s face.

In Psalm 92:12 we read: “The righteous will flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar in Lebanon.” And in John 4:14, Jesus says that He is the living water “… but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In Hebrews 13:5b God says: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Are you currently experiencing a dry or stormy season in your life? Let us stretch our roots towards the One who provides living water that will quench our thirst and enable us to rise again after the storm has passed. Stronger. With deeper roots and closer to God. In fact, we can, like the palms, continue to dance in the storm, knowing that we are not alone. God bless.