With December almost here and the end of 2011 coming this is dedicated to this year. Looking back, this year goes up as one of the best years of my life. Not everything has gone as I would like and much remains yet to come in my life, but the time I have had this year has been very good. Taking me out of a few years of spiritual drought, bringing healing and renewal to my soul and an immense blessing of spiritual church family have all been factors in making this one of the best years of my life to date.
Yet, if I went down the check list of what most people use to have a good year, this year wouldn't make the cut. My secret is a supernatural life tied, connected and correlated to God. That is not a theory, a idea or a answer, but my best attempt to explain what is not easy to explain, only lived, experienced and encountered.
I should stop here and pause for a moment to simply say that if you are going through hard times there is one thing I would tell you to do. Start feeding your roots and plant them in good soil in running after God with all your heart, mind and soul.
Actually, I should add if you are flourishing and doing great now, do the same thing. The mountain top will not last, but roots that go deep will not fail you when they are rooted in God.
Your circumstances may not and will not likely change over night, but growing your roots in God will significantly aid in bringing you life regardless of your circumstances. I don't say this as theory, but from life experience. I would have withered in many ways over the past 10-15 years - multiple times during challenging times if not for roots.
Be encouraged. These times are for your good. To prosper you. God is not absent. Acknowledge Him in your life. Thank Him for His involvement and begin to praise Him for what He is doing in your life to take you into the plans He created for you - long ago. I learned to do that this year and it has been a major part of the changes in my life I do believe.
You see, if I had experienced a continued and expanded season of blessing these past 10 years I would not be who I am today nor would I become the leader I believe God is calling me to be. There is purpose in the prolonged wait. This is not what I would have wanted to hear in those times, nor what others will want to hear, but God is in control and in time as we trust, obey and follow Him this becomes more evident. Again, I can only say this because I have lived it, experienced it and it is not something I would have chose, asked for or wanted, but I do see God's hand in it all now and I am thankful for it. It is something I can praise God for in my life.
I would not be able to relate or have compassion for the struggles, pains and challenges of most people following the Lord today if not for the hard times I have walked through. It is because of them and my time through them that I am better able to bless and minister to others going through them. Yet, in walking with God, in chasing after Him and seeking His protection - He has done just that. His mighty hand and protection has been with me always.
It's funny I used to wish God would bless me greatly from my big steps of faith and my pursuit of Him over the years, but now looking back I am glad that He has waited to open the flood gates of Heaven for those blessings. As it stands now, when that time comes, I will be better able to fulfill my calling and the plans He has for me from the prolonged wait.
All this to say that roots, well roots are important. Fast growth without the roots to support that growth, well it is growth that will wither. Remember, crawl, walk and then run. When we run before we have learned to crawl, we will fall, and we will fall hard.
In time roots in the right soil produce more than just life in us, they produce a spiritual heritage. I'll continue more in this in the days to come.
