My boys are thrilled this morning! It is snowing for the first time this fall. And it came down beautifully. There are big puffy white flakes tumbling from the sky in record numbers. They couldn’t hardly wait to get dressed and get outside. It was a little bit of a struggle to get them out. They had mixed up their snow pants and we had to do a complete undress and redress. When you have toddlers, that takes forever. The first thing they found wonderful about the snow, much to my dismay, was that it tastes great! In fact, I think that’s what they think snow is for, eating (yikes!). Now they have discovered the snow is good for making and throwing snowballs. Their peals of laughter are sweet to hear.
While they play, I decided to read my chapter from the New Testament for the day. It’s something I started earlier this summer. I’ve read through the bible a couple of times, done the Psalm and Proverb a day and some other more specific book read/memorize activities. I thought it would be good to refresh my understanding of the epistles by reading them one chapter at a time. It has been enlightening. I’ve done inductive bible studies on several individual epistles, but there has been something fresh about simply reading them chapter after chapter. It’s a more reflective, big picture perspective on books that are often picked apart and loved a verse at a time.
I also decided to read in a different version than I’ve read before. This time I’m reading the New Living Translation (NLT). It keeps my eyes and heart fresh too. I’m typically a NIV girl, but I use different versions all the time to study what a passage is actually saying. Most recently I’ve been reading the English Standard Version (ESV) for the bible study I’ve been attending. That has added some fresh eyes to reading some of these familiar passages.
Today I was reading in Ephesians. Paul is so encouraging to them, letting them know he is at work with them spiritually even when physically he is far away. In the past several epistles he is always working to communicate the free salvation they have in Christ and how the expression of that should line up with the holiness of God. That expression should not come from themselves but from the work of the Holy Spirit in them. They have access to this great power that raised Jesus from the dead and the great love of God to keep and make them holy one day at a time.
There has been some literature put out about how love is the true healing force in this world. It should be no surprise to us since God is love and His love is promoted as the healing that brings us into His holiness. First John says that perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. We are no longer under punishment when we are in Christ. His sacrifice on the cross took care of our punishment both now and for the past and for forever. Now we simply live in love. And love makes us secure.
When I came to this particular passage I found myself captivated by it. It’s not new to me, but it is both refreshing and filled with fresh understanding in my heart.
“I pray that from His glorious unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”
Ephesians 3:16 – 17 NLT
- From His glorious unlimited resources (God does not have supply restrictions or limitations)
- He will empower (His desire is to have us empowered and strong)
- With inner strength through His Spirit (Our strength is not seen, it is unseen inside of us. And it is from His Spirit, not from us. We are not a strength in and of ourselves. It is a strength that comes from a deep place of surrender to Jesus Christ)
- Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him (This is the place of deep surrender. We must remember God is God over our circumstances not the God who brought our circumstances. Things look bleak around us, relationships we have are struggling, bad thing happen. And God is still God and God is still good and holy. He will work things out for good. That love that He has committed will keep us secure in Him. Christ will live in us and strengthen us as we trust Him to do so.)
- And then:
“Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong “
So this is the part that gives me goosebumps. We are strong when we are deeply and assuredly wrapped up in God’s love. If you talk to any therapist they will tell you the type of relationship you are in will determine if you feel secure or not. And it all comes down to how loved you feel. (Though, love is far greater than emotion; that is a topic to delve into another time.) A person who grew up with insecure relationships/love is someone who both expects to and feel more comfortable if the love from their relationships isn’t too committed. They will tend to push away healthy relationships because of their insecurity with the promise of security. However, when a person in insecure relationships finds healing the security found makes their heart so complete that it mends many of the wounds from all those insecure relationships. This is simply by finding security in someone’s unconditional love reiterated over and over and over through all circumstances and situations. Humans while they can become very good at unconditional love can never reach the limitless love of God and its no exceptions, unconditional nature. The healing from God’s love is beyond what we can hope or imagine. It is life giving and healing beyond our understanding.
I am willing to admit this has been my biggest struggle in this last season my family has been through. It’s not that I don’t see God as a God of love or that He loves me. I just didn’t understand how committed, intentional and unconditional it was. I was insecure in the investment God was willing to make in my life with His love. Life has been very difficult in many ways: two toddlers complete with chaos and lack of sleep, chronic pain for my husband, depression and anxiety in our home, etc. It was hard to see how God was invested in these things. The old, everything works together for good verse was not bringing the hope I needed.
It’s not that this verse isn’t powerful and amazing in its own right. It’s that the revelation I needed was found elsewhere. It was actually found in the song of a young Nazarene girl who was in one of the most precarious situations of her life, unmarried, pregnant and carrying the Son of God. She sings, “O magnify the Lord!” And God provided for her. Joseph’s continued engagement to her protected her.
I found it was when I started magnifying God and all that He is and not the struggles I faced every day that I could root into the love of God and be strengthened by it. I didn’t have to know the future or be prepared for every thing that could happen. I just had to be secure in the perfect and unconditional love of God by exalting all that He is. Because no matter what I saw around me, that would never change and it would keep me secure and strong for the seasons that would be coming, whatever they were. I can tell you that journey to rooting into God’s love is still very much in process. Some days I feel the angst of wondering what will come and being overwhelmed by it. However, now I am more willing to be reminded of the love that sustains me and strengthens me for the days and moments that feel too much. My security continues to grow and root into the love of God.
So those were my thoughts as I pondered this sweet verse about being rooted in Christ’s love. What blessing to meditate on this while I watch the leftover fall leaves and snow fall from my window. Oh, and my kids think it’s Christmas time now that there is snow. My oldest son has brought in his masterpiece, a snowball, well packed and carefully formed. He’s been instructed to store it in the freezer. Thankfully he wants to secure it in a Ziploc baggie. Maybe I’ll get it out when it’s actually Christmas, lol!
Blessings! Let your roots grow down into God’s love! It will keep you strong!
LWF
Lady Worship Fingers 