Swayed but not Shaken
I hung up the phone and sat there trying to fight back the fears, what ifs and disappointment. There was stillness all around me but inside a storm raged.
The phone call confirmed that I didn't get the answer I had prayed for. Hope was deferred...again...but though I felt about as in control as a tree swaying in a tropical storm, I was not shaken.
Why?
I'll answer that but first, did you know God created trees to sway? It's what allows them to withstand storms. They sway with the wind and that sway protects their roots from being shaken or uprooted. Without sway a tree would snap with the first fierce storm. See where I am going with this?
That day when I set down the phone God met me in my disheartened state through the imagery of a tree swaying in a storm. It was a picture of exactly how I felt! As I sat there watching the tree bend and sway in every direction I began to see something else, the answer!
Swaying doesn't equal lack of faith!!
Read that again and then pause 10 seconds while you process what that means. Many times I have felt swayed by storms of life. I used to think that was because I just wasn't leaning on God enough but that isn't true! It demonstrates the God given ability to adapt to abrupt shifts of weather ( i.e. life circumstances). God knew none of us could withstand storms through brute strength alone so he created sway that we might bend but not break.
As my mind reeled with that new discovery, like God always does, he took me a step further.
He showed me the roots of that stormed swayed tree. There were many strong and established ones fully immersed in a deep spring with eager new offshoots constantly growing and spreading. I could tell they had been there for years. Though a storm raged above and the tree which they grounded swayed like a rag doll, the roots were not shaken. It was then I realized the sway God created is just one part. My roots still have to be living, pliable and deep; anchored in multiple places by several main ones going to a depth beyond all others. The strength of my tree's sway is directly related to the life and depth of my roots because dead brittle ones are breakable no matter how deep they go.
It got me to thinking, How deep are my roots? What is their condition? Am I constantly grounding them in the rich soil of the Bible? Am I consistently nourishing them with living water? Am I doing what God created me to do and simply swaying, grounded by my deep roots, until the storm is passed?
Perhaps it got you thinking too. If it did and you want further encouragement or a place to start, below are some Bible verses to go with each self reflection question above. :)
For now, I hope my story, personal revelations, and self reflection questions help you get through whatever storm you might be in now and future ones.
May we be swayed but never shaken!
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How deep are my roots?
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psalms 139:23
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Psalms 119:97
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalms 1:1-3
What is their condition?
My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
Psalms 119:81
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Proverbs 14:26
Am I constantly grounding them in the rich soil of the Bible?
Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Ephesians 3:13-19
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Am I consistently nourishing them with living water?
The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
Proverbs 18:4
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
John 4:10
Am I doing what God created me to do and simply swaying grounded by my deep roots until the storm is passed?
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalms 27:13-14
