….Rooted and grounded in love.
The truth of this verse just magnified in my understanding
this past week. You see, I had some other roots vying for my attention—ones
that had dug deep and held tight, crying for the sunlight and nutrients.
Instead of comprehending that I am fully loved and wanted, the roots whispered
the opposite message.
This awareness came one morning as I sat during prayer
meeting—a woman prayed for 'the one' who needed to be released from fear—freed from the
feeling that she couldn’t be herself and the constant wondering of her worth.
Later, I went to her to let her know it was me she prayed for.
I am the one who needs a touch from the Master—right down to
my roots.
You see, words have a way of beating us down. The saying,
‘sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me’ is just
not true. Words wound. And, though the wounds are not visible—the roots are
deep and cut off the nutrition of the Truth.
After sharing the hurt in my heart with her, I went to be alone with the Lord
and to seek His counsel. I cried out, asking Him to release me from the
lies—from the shadow of rejection that hovered over me. I penned in my journal:
As I began to read Psalm 139, His Spirit spoke and anointed
the wounds of my soul.
‘I created your inmost
being. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your frame was not hidden…you were
made in the secret place…My eyes saw your unformed body. Your days have been
ordained for you and written in My book before one of them came to be.’
And in Ephesians 1:5 He tells me that, ‘He chose me from the foundation of the world by the kind intention of
His will.’
Chosen—a word the Lord gave me just a couple of months
before; A word that has danced in and out of my writing and teaching for
years—His word for me.
The words and voices of others do not define me. I am precious and wanted by My Heavenly Father. His love for me is unconditional.
My identity is 'rooted and grounded' in His love...not in the roots of the wounds I carry, so that I may
be ‘filled up to all the fullness of God’ (Ephesians 3:17-19).
So, I need to tell you today...He wants to plug our leaky souls by discovering the root of
our wounds because every careless word will pass through that faulty filter,
watering the wound and keeping us bound.
He came to set us free so that we can know the breadth, length and
height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. The abundant
life He offers is rooted in Truth. We need to believe Him over the lies that
threaten us.
This is what it means to take every thought captive. We must
not allow the untruths to gain ground in our thinking because allowing them to
take root will choke our minds of His truth.
Father, please plug our leaky soul by revealing the root of our wounds,
Tree image courtesy of Morguefile.com
This has spoken to me so profoundly. God is doing such a great work in my heart and roots!!! So glad I found this today to go along with the wonderful work He continues to do in my life!
ReplyDeleteJeanne, how true are your words! We all need greater measures of truth and light in the deep places of our soul. And when God shines his light, all darkness must depart!
ReplyDeleteLeslie, praying with you to be freed from the roots that hinder you.
ReplyDeletePam, the wonderful thing about our Heavenly Father is that he brings light and healing in the gentlest of ways--when we are ready to surrender and receive. All the while He is loosening the roots that need release.
ReplyDeleteJeanne so true - so many precious children are started off in life with unstable, unhealthy or even "missing" roots and yet our loving God desires that they have strong roots in love - thank you for this reminder!
ReplyDeleteSo true, Jeanne. Roots, because they're roots, are buried deep and hard to pull up. Only He can remove them, but letting Him is so hard sometimes.
ReplyDeleteSue and Vonda, thanks for chiming in. Pulling roots, like pruning is so much kinder when He does it. His tender touch--like the potter molding clay.
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