Uncategorized

Rooted

Last night, Cody and I had a last-minute coffee date at Barnes&Noble. We talked and talked over coffee and a chocolate cupcake, and the theme of our conversation was mostly, “What’s next?” It’s funny because that always seems to be the question, doesn’t it?

He mentioned a recent meeting he had with a couple pastors at our church recently, Bill and Larry, and how he told them he just wanted to find something he could be rooted in (meaning a job, ministry, etc.). And their answer was, well, you CAN be rooted. You can be rooted in the way you choose to live your life, the way you treat people, the values you keep close.

What’s interesting is that about 30 minutes later, as he was looking through a Guiness Book of World Records, I picked up a Psychology Today magazine with the cover story, “Secrets of Happiness.” I skimmed the article, and the most common theme was that most people are always waiting for life to happen…graduation, marriage, career, children, travel… which leaves one feeling discontent and ‘in between.’

As a Christian, the waiting makes sense. We weren’t really made for ‘here.’ We weren’t really created to deal with the mess we have landed in. But here we are, pressing through, and we do the best we can by loving, giving, and experiencing. And to be rooted in the desire to live a better life seems to reep more rewards as opposed to simply seeking bigger, better, more things.

I completely agree the pursuit of a fuller life where you are is important, but I also think we were meant to push the envelope. As a recent favorite song says, “We were meant to open doors. We were meant to face the danger, never knowing what’s in store…” God has made lots of lofty promises that are not empty. I could easily settle into my life now and probably be fine. But I could also step ahead in several directions, look around, see what I might find, and maybe even head another direction. God promises He’ll be with me regardless, so why not?

“There is not a high blessing too lofty for you, nor a wide mercy too extensive for you. Lift up your eyes now to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is yours. Climb to the mountaintop, and view the utmost limits of the divine promise, for the land is all your own. There is not a brook of living water of which you may not drink. If the land flows with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are yours. Be bold to believe, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

One thought on “Rooted

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s