Planted and FlourishingSample

When you face a challenge, what’s your first response? To believe the worst, let your worries take over, or get upset and angry? Those feelings are okay and normal, but we can’t let them rule our lives and take away our trust in God. Trusting God means having faith in Him. We can’t see God, but we can read His Word, feel His presence, and see how He works in our lives.

When a tree or a plant is moved from a place where it’s planted, it’s called being ‘uprooted." The plant is removed from its familiar environment and source of connection and nourishment. If you’ve moved houses, changed schools, or left something old to go to something new, it can feel a bit like you’re a plant that’s been uprooted. You might feel lost and disconnected. We can be planted in God, who is never changing, always there, and will never leave us. When we plant ourselves and let our roots grow deep in God, we can find ourselves in any environment and know we can keep growing and flourishing.

Being planted in good soil is so important! The type of soil we are planted in determines the kind of fruit we grow. We could choose to plant ourselves in an environment that’s unhealthy, maybe one that’s full of jealousy and gossip, wanting to be famous or popular, or following the latest trends. Do you think those things will give us a flourishing life, producing good fruit? No! But we could also choose to plant ourselves in God. Planting ourselves in God means we have good nourishment, connection, and refreshment. Letting our roots grow deep in God means we will flourish and produce good fruit in our lives.