Check Your Roots, Bear the Fruit

Today, the world as we know it is in quarantine, which by definition is a restriction on the movement of people or goods, or a period of isolation, to prevent the spread of disease. 

Most of us had an outline of plans for 2020. Of course, I can speak for myself better than anyone else can. So let me deal with me for a moment — I had things planned that I wanted to do, places I wanted to go. 

Yet here we are, almost in the month of May. It seems as if the earth’s orbit around the sun has slowed to a snail’s pace. To the point where all the time I made excuses of not having prior to quarantine, (because you know, I was oh so busy), I now have in abundance. 

Pause. Whelp, there go my excuses…flying out the window. Take a quick glimpse at them in the rear view mirror. I guarantee they won’t be coming back. Good riddance! 

If I can be real, this whole situation has really made me feel some type of way. Unable to hangout with family and friends as I normally would. Unable to do some of the things that I like to do (with the exception of running). 

And as the weeks have passed by, I found myself experiencing some things, some emotions that I believed were long gone. Resurrecting some old thoughts, patterns, and habits. Picking at old wounds that were once healed.

So for anyone who has been dealing with or in their emotions lately, I feel you. You are not alone. As real as your emotions might seem, be it isolation, loneliness, fear, and the like, they are not the truth. There is victory on the other side of you facing your emotions and giving God access to the roots. 

Storms and times of crises tend to expose roots. You know, those deep-seated things beneath the surface. The things that we have either forgotten about or neglected to address. However, let’s be honest – the latter is almost always the case. In those moments, we often find ourselves saying, “Oh, this old thing – it’s not that important.” Or one of my personal favorites, “I’ll get to that later.” 

But now, I have time. Lots of it. God is using this time to break ground within me. And as His daughter, in covenant relationship with Him, He is requiring me to check my roots — my beliefs, thoughts, and connections. No one else is responsible for this, I must do it for myself. There is some work that I have to put in to give Him access to those hard to reach places.  Here’s something I heard Father God speak to me recently, and I wanted to share:

“Your connections are critical at this juncture in your walk. The connections will dilute you, pollute you, or grow you! I am growing you. I see what needs pruning, and what needs more nutrients. I see you for who you are.“

Ground-breaking is by no means comfortable, but if we can tune ourselves into the process of suffering for but a moment — literally taking on the mind and posture of Christ — He promises that the end result, the fruit, will be a great reward. 

Yes, we are in a state of quarantine. By law, we are in a state of restriction and physical distancing. We have witnessed or heard about tragedies across the globe. This is the shocking and unfortunate reality, as we know it. But the reality does not equal God’s truth.

This is God’s truth. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His Word cannot change. Before time began, God knew what the world and His children would be faced with in 2020. 

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Numbers 23:19, KJV

Nothing catches Him by surprise. So even in the midst of quarantine, grief, and trials that the entire world is experiencing, God is still good. His promises are still yes and amen. 

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

2nd Corinthians 1:20, KJV

God is steadfast and unmoveable. In a world that is constantly changing, let’s put our hope in an unchanging, supernatural, and loving God. Let’s make a conscious decision every day to be driven by faith instead of our emotions. The decision to hope in things which are unseen, trusting that when we give our cares to God, He makes all things work together for good. 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28, KJV

Be encouraged, my friend. May you find peace in knowing and embracing what our Heavenly Father is doing behind the scenes for all of us. He is turning, tilling, and exposing. He is breaking the ground for a soon-to-come harvest.

As a farmer’s daughter, I learned to plow and fertilize the ground before you plant…to appreciate the weather and seasonal change. I learned the importance of consistency and the significance of crop rotation to enhance next season’s harvest.

Farming requires faith and patience. It requires discipline and diligence. And most of all, it requires a labor of love. A seed without soil is just a seed. While a seed already has the DNA within itself to produce life, it cannot bear fruit without fertile soil, proper nutrients, and intentional cultivation. 

It is springtime — when the dormant things sprout and come to life. When we sow and cultivate seeds, expecting to reap a plentiful harvest. We can have all the gifts, talents, and blessings in the world. We can receive all the words of affirmation and prophecy. But if we are not rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ, we will never be able to produce fruit that is sustainable or representative of Him.

Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.‘

John 15:4-5, KJV

The breaking must come before the reaping. How much work are we willing to put in? Will we open our ears to hear? Will we remove the veil over our eyes? Will we open our hearts to seek understanding, not of human wisdom, but of God’s will and purpose? 

Will we allow God to break, expose, and convert those stony, rough, and waxed places? 

The parable of the sower is one of my favorites. I discovered what Jesus was referring to by the “ground” when He spoke with His disciples — He was talking about the heart.

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”

Matthew 13:3-8, KJV

The world is witnessing historic and monumental changes. There will always be a new unknown and a next. Change is imminent, but God is present. We have to come out of this phase of development and ground-breaking better than we came in. 

Let’s tend to the soil of our hearts to prepare for the great things to come. What is before us is much greater than what is behind us. Let’s take this time to check our roots so we can bear the fruit. Seeds, soil, and service. 

The fruit is part of your legacy. It is bigger than you. There is a harvest of lives and souls waiting for you to do your part. God is and will always be glorified!

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

John 4:35, KJV

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you make all things beautiful. Your mercies are new every morning and nothing is too hard for You. I believe Your Word and I know that your plans are good. Your Word says that you would never leave or forsake us, and that you hold life and time in Your hands. Forgive us where we have doubted. Forgive us where we have taken on the cares of this world, instead of giving our cares to you. For each person reading this, I pray that they would experience new levels of breakthrough. That their eyes would be enlightened to Your truth, their minds would be transformed, and their hearts saturated with the abundant love of Christ. Your Word says we are not made righteous by works, but we are made righteous and justified by our faith. I pray that we would all be strengthened, allowing Christ to dwell in our hearts, being rooted and grounded in love. Dismantle every lie sent by the enemy to thwart or distract us from our God-given destiny. I believe there is a great harvest attached to the lives of Your people. Help us to be good stewards over every gift that you have given us, asking for Your wisdom every day, staying true to the process that will reap a plentiful harvest. We will not faint, but we will endure and persevere, because we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19, KJV

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22, KJV