Earthen Vessels and Roots

In the wooded park, where I like to walk there is a tree, to the right side of the path, that toppled over some time ago.  It is a very large tree and when it fell to the ground, its entire root system pulled up with it.  When you walk by the first thing you see is the “underneath” of the tree – you have to look around it to see what is left of the trunk and branches.  Every time I walk by, I think, wow, that is a big root system. 

Have you ever sat and watched the trees in a wind storm, mild or gale force winds or perhaps even a hurricane?  The fascinating way some twist and bend, sometimes, even to the ground, and spring back up again, while others, break or topple over completely?  When Hurricane Juan hit Atlantic Canada in 2003, we were living in Porters Lake, in Nova Scotia.  The worst part of the wind hit overnight – coming onshore not far from where we lived at the time, passing right over our home and community. It was dark and we could not see what was happening outside but could hear the wind swirling.  It came in waves, starting low and rising in speed and intensity and then slowing down again. Over and over again all night.  The next day as we drove through our area, the aftermath was hard to process.  So many trees, massive trees, upended and uprooted, their large root systems exposed for all to see.

Have you ever experienced a time in life when you felt you were in a figurative wind storm; mild or gale force winds or perhaps even a hurricane? Could you feel the bending and twisting and cracking, in your body, soul, spirit and mind?  Were there times you were completely upended, roots exposed for all to see and other times you sprang back at the moment you thought everything would be lost?

In the last 6 months, my husband and I have been in a wind storm.  It started mild, and then took turns moving between gale and hurricane-force winds.  In the beginning, I remember thinking how important it was going to be to ensure (no matter how busy and chaotic it was going to get) that I was in the Word of God regularly.  I knew that what comes out of me in times of distress is the fruit of the particular seeds I have sown all along.  I knew that the Word of God in me, the scriptures I would sow, would be the fruit that would feed me and those around me in the days to come; the evidence to myself and others of what I carry within me.  I also knew that it WAS going to get busy and chaotic. 

I began to ask the Lord for the scriptures I would need. As He gave them to me- in a variety of ways – I wrote them out on cue cards. There are many wonderful scriptures, but I sought the Lord for the ones I would need most during this time. I carried my cue cards with me everywhere in my purse – they were portable, easy to pull out and left no room for excuses – “I don’t have my Bible”, “I’m too tired to look up Scripture”, “I forgot”, or even, “I don’t want to”.  Because of my focus on a handful of verses, they quickly became rooted deep in the soil of my mind and heart for those nights I sat in the dark in the hospital by my husband’s bed or at home by myself and couldn’t find a light to read by, physically or figurately. They came to mind quickly, without much effort, providing life-giving nutrients to sustain me.

Two of the verses that sustained me are the verses noted at the top of the page.

Today, I spent some time and studied these scriptures a bit further.

But we have this treasure in earthen (ostrakinos- of the earth with the added suggestion of frailty) vessels, that the excellence (hyperbole -exceeding, beyond measure) of the power (force, miraculous power) may be of God (theos) and not of us. We are hard-pressed (thlibō – as in to press grapes, troubled, contracted, crowded) on every side yet not crushed; we are perplexed (aporeō – to be without resources, not knowing where to turn) but not in despair; persecuted (diōkō- pursued) but not forsaken; struck down (kataballō – thrown to the ground prostrate), but not destroyed (apollymi – put away entirely or rendered useless) – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also  may be manifested (phaneroō-to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown) in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Ah yes, the frailty – the pressing, lack of resources and certainty, the feelings of being relentlessly pursued and thrown to the ground- the windstorm.

Yet, through it all, the ability to feel the exceeding power of God moving within and without.

This has been my experience. 

Today I wondered aloud about it.  What is it, that allows that exceeding power of God to move within and without this earthen vessel called Laurie, through the pain of being hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted and struck down; ensuring I am not crushed, in despair, forsaken or destroyed (put away entirely or rendered useless); even amid the wind storm.

“But blessed are those who trust (bāṭaḥ -to confide in anyone, to set one’s hope and confidence in anyone) in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence (miḇṭāḥ – refuge, hope and confidence). They are like trees planted (šāṯal – planted, transplanted, slip, cutting) along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep (šālaḥ – to send, send away, let go, stretch out) into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought (baṣṣōreṯ – restraint or drought). Their leaves stay green (raʿănān – of trees growing and flourishing), and they never stop producing fruit (pᵊrî – the fruit of produce, offspring, or actions). Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT

When I read this today, I thought back to the tree in the park – toppled over with its very large root system showing – and for the first time I understood – the root system of this tree was large in the sense of width, but not depth. The roots reached many feet on either side to the north, south, east and west of the trunk, but the roots were not planted deep into the soil.  When the windstorm came, the wideness of the root system could not support the weight of the truck and branches and leaves as they twisted and bent in the wind.

In the original, these verses in Jeremiah are worded this way “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is in the Lord.” 

Who trusts in……and whose trust is.

That is a lot of trust.

A trust which involves taking refuge in and putting one’s confidence in the Lord.  Regardless of the experience of the windstorm; or in this case, the heat and the drought. And these trees are not just any trees, they are transplanted trees (slips or cuttings) that have been placed intentionally along the riverbank, whose roots have been “let go” or freed to stretch out deep.  This allows them to produce fruit (literally and figurately).

It has been my experience that the exceeding power of God works in this frail earthen vessel when I trust in Him and allow myself to be transplanted (from all the other things I am tempted to trust in), and placed along His riverbank. When I not only allow, but encourage, my roots to be freed (from me, from others and the world) to shoot out/stretch deep and far in Him.  When this happens, my root system is deep as well as wide, allowing stability in the windstorms I find myself in. And when my root system is wide, I may bend and twist, even to the ground, but I will bounce back up with breaking.  And that fruit – that fruit that comes out of me in times of distress – it will be the same fruit that comes out in times of abundance – based on the seeds that have been sown – it will be produced in times of heat, in times of drought, in times of wind. 

In this windstorm, the Word of God on those cue cards – they reminded me of the promises of God; of His unfailing love for me; of His faithfulness that is new every morning, sustaining me; of who I belong to and how He cares for me in the wind, the heat and the drought; of how to stand in “my only safe place” and allow Him to carry me amid the worries that surround me.  These Words encouraged me, supported me, increased my faith, reminded me of the faithfulness of God in the past and assured me of His faithfulness now and in the future.  These Words shored up my trust, confidence and hope – allowing my roots to be freed, to stretch out deep so that despite the challenges, the force of the wind, the twisting and the bending, I would remain standing, in Him.

Are you in a windstorm – mild or gale force winds, or perhaps a hurricane?

Do you know that you are an earthen vessel, fragile, that the power of God may work through you?

Have you been transplanted beside His riverbank?

Have you allowed your roots to be “freed” to stretch out and grow deep rather than just wide?

Have you chosen to find refuge, hope and confidence in the Lord?

Will the seeds you sow now provide for good fruit despite the circumstances you find yourself in; providing nutrients to sustain you in the heat, droughts and windstorms of life?

Will your trust and hope and confidence in the Lord allow you to stand despite the pressing, lack of resources and certainty, the feelings of being relentlessly pursued and thrown to the ground – that you and those around you will see the excellence of the power of God at work in and through you?

There are and will be storms in life.  I have been through many and likely will be through many more.

Let me share my heart with you today – this heart that finds itself amid a windstorm that feels more like a whirlwind each day.

It has been and is my experience and my assurance that my trust, hope and confidence in God will allow my root system to run deep. That although the wind and heat and drought come, and I may twist and bend and come close to hitting the ground, as painful as it is, I will not break and be rendered useless. Rather my roots will grow deeper in the Lord.

My trust, hope and confidence remain in the Lord.

It is ONLY “through the Lord’s mercies we are [I am] not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23