Rooted

Recently God showed me I was like a tree that was stressing and striving “I want to bear fruit! I want to bear more fruit!” in an urgent hurry. God replied, “Stop trying to bear fruit and focus instead on putting your roots down in Me, drinking the water of my life-giving Word. The fruit will then just naturally come.”

There are a number of passages in scripture that use the image of us being a tree. Here are a few of them with my reflections on them:

How do I put my roots down and become a fruitful tree?

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.  (Jeremiah 17:7-8 )

By trusting in God. Believe His Word. Hold on to His promises. Walk in obedience to His commands.

By hoping in the Lord. Don’t let myself get bogged down in circumstances around me. Lift my eyes to consider how great He is:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
² My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.  (Psalm 121 v 1-2)

If my helper is the one who made heaven and earth, what is there that is too hard for Him?

¹ Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1v 1-3)

Walk in His ways.  Don’t get sucked along with the crowd, to ‘fit in’. Instead, ‘keep in step with the Spirit’ (Galatians 5 v 16) The first three verses show a progression from walking, to standing and finally sitting, which to my mind shows a growing comfortableness with the ways and company of those who are walking contrary to God’s ways.

Delight in the law of the Lord. Recognise the Bible for the treasure it is: truth, wisdom, love, instruction, comfort, God’s words to us.

Meditate on his law day and night. This is only really possible by memorising scripture or having it written up in places you will keep seeing it and reading it. This gets it in your heart and will help you more clearly discern whether the path you’re taking is in step with the Spirit or the wicked.

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15 v 1, 4 -5)

Abide or remain. It sounds too easy. Too passive. Yet (for me at least) letting go of my own effort and allowing God to have his way in me is hard. I want it all to be done straight away and so I strive to ‘hurry up’ God’s process! Of course, it doesn’t work.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendour.  (Isaiah 61 v 1, 3)

Jesus came to rescue us. Why? That we will be ‘oaks of righteousness . . . for the display of his splendour’. Our growth from seeds to saplings to oaks is for His glory. It’s His work in me that transforms me and therefore all the glory goes to Him.

Accepting who I am

The final lesson I’ve been learning from this picture of a tree is to accept who I am. There are many different kinds of trees planted in many different places, at different stages of growth and fruitfulness. I tend to look at other ‘trees’ and think ‘I should be like that tree’, ‘I should have fruit like theirs’ or ‘I should be planted where they are’. I need to accept being the tree God made me to be, planted where He has planted me and at the stage of growth I am. And to turn my desire to be impressive and fruitful into trusting God, abiding in Him, digging deeper in His word and walking in obedience to each step He shows me, trusting Him for the speed and fruit of my growth.