Being Rooted - Part 2 By Cortney Donelson

I had a plan for “Deeply Rooted – Part 2.” However, after December 14’s school tragedy, it seemed important to exchange my plan and follow God’s promptings. This series is about fear, worry, and panic. The horrific events in Connecticut remind us that sometimes our worst fears do come to fruition – last Friday they did for 27 families. This week, I had difficulty deciding how to write something that would honor God, my “Deeply Rooted” devotional, and the hearts in pain from this outrageous act. How could I encourage us to run from fear when every parent’s worst nightmare had just become a reality? As I mourned and prayed for the families, for the first responders who witnessed the aftermath and communicated the news, and for our nation, this is what I sensed God asking me to share …

Romans 8:26-28, The Message
“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

When we are left with no words, as I was this past weekend, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. He will pray for us. How awesome and comforting is that? When I am left with nothing to say (or write) because my sorrow or pain is so great, and all I can do is sob, the Holy Spirit knows just what I need and asks on my behalf … then God answers. So with that in mind, here is my revised “Deeply Rooted – Part 2” devotional.

Ephesians 3:17-18 (NIV)
“… And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”

In my previous devotional, I wrote about three important ideas I believe God wants us to remember when fear and worry creep into our minds. The first is to turn our backs on fear and run to God’s Word. When we are rooted in God’s promises and in His unfailing love, the enemy is not able to run rampant in our minds with lies that can cause us to worry or panic. The second significant idea was that perhaps we are not capable of feeling two opposing emotions at the exact same time. If we trade worry for hope, fear for thanksgiving, and panic for praise, we can sometimes experience an immediate change in our reality. Thirdly, I suggested we embrace God’s trustworthiness through a growing faith that can only come from feeding ourselves a healthy dose of the God who never leaves our side. This can be done through reading Scripture, prayer, worship, or fellowship with others.

We tend to see and believe information as “good” if it matches our belief systems. We also pay more attention to information that conforms to our beliefs. The opposite is also true. Information is “bad” if it does not conform to our belief system. For example, when I was a little girl on vacation with my family, a spider bit my arm. The bite caused my whole arm to swell, itch, and hurt. It was excruciating! The symptoms bought me a trip to the emergency room. Since then, my belief is that spiders are bad. If a television documentary on Animal Planet tried to convince me that most spiders are harmless and essential to the ecosystem, I would start twitching and turn the channel. After all, I can’t even look at a picture of a spider without getting the willies! However, the truth is that spiders are (probably) critical to the environment and stability of our ecosystem. The truth is that most spiders are harmless to humans. My belief system is based on one incident that produced in me a fear of spiders. That fear ended my rational thinking regarding spiders. These beliefs of mine are not rooted in truth precisely because I allowed that fear to alter my convictions about spiders.

If we allow the school tragedy in Connecticut (or any other crisis or disaster) to change our belief system about God’s goodness or allow fear (for our own children in this case) to affect our lives or change our perspective about God’s love or trustworthiness, we have made the same mistake I did with spiders. So, what are our beliefs? What is the truth?

Let's run to His Word. Here are my beliefs - I pray they continue to stay rooted in scripture … in the TRUTH.

1. There is evil on earth. Satan is real and present. The enemy’s goal is to block us from a relationship with God and from everlasting life. “And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the LORD, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” (Job 2:2 NIV) and “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy …” (John 10:10 NIV)

Thankfully,

2. For those who love God, He will work out everything perfectly … even if we can’t understand the goodness until we reach our eternal home. “… The LORD will do what is good in his sight.” (2 Samuel 10:12 NIV) and “… we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)

3. God IS love, and God cares about what we fear. He cares that we have worries. He cares about our tragedies. He cares about us more than we can ever fathom. He also won’t trade our free will or our ability to choose a relationship with Him in exchange for preventing evil on Earth. After all, this is not our home and His love is greater than any evil act or the fear that it illicits. “… When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day – our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment – is one not yet fully formed in love.” (1 John 4:17-18, The Message)

4. God IS just, so I don’t have to worry about that either. “GOD’s enemies will be blasted out of the sky, crashed in a heap and burned. GOD will set things right all over the earth, he’ll give strength to his king, he’ll set his anointed on top of the world!” (1 Samuel 2:6-10, The Message)

I make a daily choice to set my mind on God through Christ. I strive to stay ROOTed in Him. That is what gives me strength, especially in times of sorrow or pain such as the kind we have all experienced this week. It also alleviates every ounce of fear and worry that may start to creep in. No wildfires allowed! Will you do the same?

Remember: (Run to His Word, Offer Thanks, Offer Praise, Trust Him)

Prayer – God, I pray for the families and friends of the victims of the school tragedy in Connecticut. I pray they feel Your love and comfort in the midst of their pain. I hope they run to You and not rage against You in their anguish. Thank You for Your promises – may they help us stay grounded in Your truth and turn our backs on fear. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

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