PoP - Complacent Roots

A few months ago, a friend and I planted seeds for our future gardens and began waiting eagerly to see green emerge from the small containers of dirt. Due to the setups of our homes, we each gave our seeds a different environment in which to grow. My friend was able to keep her seeds inside where they got to enjoy the warmth from her woodstove and the sunlight beaming in from her dining room windows. My seeds however did not get such luxury due to a lack of space inside and the lack of a woodstove. Instead, I placed my little seeds in “growing houses” I made from storage bins and put them on porch of my free-standing office. There were a few nights when the temperatures fell drastically that I brought the growing boxes inside, but for the most part my seeds lived in their little houses outside on my porch.

As the weeks went by, I got a report from my friend that her seeds had sprouted. I was excited for her, but I couldn’t help but wonder why my seeds had not sprouted since we planted them the same day. Finally, much later, I was able to report that I saw green emerging from my little cups of dirt and excitement abounded again!

As the cool days and nights began to turn mild, I saw that my friend’s plants were thriving in their warm environment and outgrowing my plants by leaps and bounds. Again, I was glad for my friend, but couldn’t help but wonder why my little plants were struggling to grow tall and strong. I thought that perhaps my plants needed more room to grow, so I repotted them and placed them in a larger growing house. While my efforts seemed to help to a point, I still didn’t get the tall, thriving plants that my friend did.

One day I noticed my plants were getting a little discolored and I decided that, even thought the threat of frost was not yet gone, my plants needed to go in the ground. So, I prepared my garden and planted my little plants in their happy little rows. I noticed that even though they were smaller than my friend’s plants, my plants had good, strong roots and looked like they should grow into healthy, high yielding stalks and vines.

Several weeks have since passed and my plants are doing well. The weather is finally starting to warm up, though it has been terribly dry ever since I planted … and no, I will not be taking the blame for that! I’ve been faithfully watering each evening and going out each morning to check on my plants and see how they fared in the night. I even go so far as to talk to and sing a hymn to my plants so that they know that I’m glad they are in my garden! Kindness is a beautiful thing, ya know!

Life being what life is … BUSY … my friend did not get to plant her garden when I did. In fact, several weeks passed and though there were some well-intentioned discussions of planting it didn’t happen until a few days ago. My friend mentioned that she absolutely had to get her (still tall and thriving) plants in the ground. So, I showed up and we got her garden prepped. As we started planting though, we were both shocked to find out that her tall and thriving plants had little roots that were quite weak and pulled from the soil with no effort at all. How could this be? They looked so good!

Not sure what to do, we decided to plant the now delicate plants and hope for the best. Sadly, the next day I got a text and disappointed ensued. The plants were no longer tall and green. In fact, most of the plants were dead. We discussed why it happened, but only came up with seemingly logical conjectures. The soil wasn’t packed tight enough. Was it the wrong kind of soil? Perhaps the garden was too dry or we watered too much? Or not enough?

This morning my friend messaged and said that she figured it out. She said should have acclimated her plants to the outside weather before putting them in the ground. Her plants were not prepared for the new environment she put them in. We marveled at the discovery and quickly noted this life lesson:

***The perfect environment creates complacency***

You see, my friend’s plants didn’t have to do any work in order to grow. They had the perfect conditions, warmth, water and sunlight. They didn’t want for anything or contend with any struggles. Yes, they appeared to thrive, but when faced with the challenge of a new environment, their weak roots couldn’t handle it and they fell to destruction.

We might wish our lives were easier. We might long for the perfect environment, free from trials and struggles, but what would we really have if we actually got our wishes and longings? We would have weak roots that would let us fall to destruction in the face of new challenges.

Have you ever noticed that when things in your life are going well, you don’t make nor take opportunities to talk to God near like you do when you are struggling? What happens when a trial occurs? Is your first reaction to ask God for help? The truth of the matter is, life on earth will never be perfect because sin is here. Still, God gives us advice through James when He says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” (James 1:2-3). Trials test our faith and that brings us closer to God, which is where we need to be to get through each day of this glorious, yet difficult life. We need to be more concerned with what’s underneath and be deeply rooted in God than we are concerned about how we look on the surface.

So, which plant are you? Are you the plant in the perfect environment that appears to be thriving, but in reality has become complacent and merely has weak roots that will cause you to fall into destruction when faced with challenges? Or are you the small, but healthy plant that doesn’t seem to be growing fast in the eyes of others, but in truth is growing strong roots that will help you face whatever challenges come along?

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).

Jesus Christ is the Garden of life…roots planted in Him cannot fall or fail.