Rooted and Grounded = Stability

When I Fiver and I stepped out back first thing yesterday morning, I could not help but stand in awe and simply soak in the beauty of the morning.  The day just seemed to be alive with hope and joy.  The sky was bright blue with a few puffy white clouds, the little birds were out in mass singing songs that uplifted my senses and there were even a couple of squirrels frolicking in the yard near the back gate… that is until they spotted the dog and made a hasty exit between the pickets in the gate!

If I remember correctly, the temperature was in the low fifties with a gentle cool breeze fluttering the leaves on the tress.  As I took all this in, I suddenly had the thought that it was almost as if the new-life of spring and the starkness of winter were in a final fight for the dominion of the weather… with the weather caught in the middle and not being able to decide which way to go!

As the morning progressed the clouds began to billow in until the neighborhood was shrouded in gray.  Then by mid-afternoon the clouds had moved on and the blue skies and sun returned!  When I took Fiver out for his last run before bed, the sky was gorgeous with only a few clouds and a picturesque unfolding of bright stars and constellations with a couple of jets flying high overhead for effect!

The day’s weather pattern seemed to emphasize the Word from Ephesians 3:17-18 that I’ve been revisiting lately, especially when it comes to the part where Paul prays that we be “rooted and grounded in (God’s agape) love (so that) you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.” (KJV/MSG)

The connection to my weather experiences came when I got inquisitive and looked up the Greek meanings to the words translated ‘rooted’ and ‘grounded.’  It is interesting that they basically can mean the same thing but in order to differentiate between them, let’s just say that ‘rooted’ infers “to become stable” while ‘grounded’ relates “to putting down a substructure or foundation.”  (Strong’s and Thayer’s)  Both of which render someone or something to become stable.

It got even more interesting to me when I read of those Greek definitions in relation to The Message Bible's paraphrase of verse 17 where it encourages us with the importance of having “both feet firmly planted on love.”  If I have only one foot planted on love and the other planted somewhere else… say in the world’s place of fear because part of me is letting the circumstances of life guide my emotions and decisions instead of the truth of God’s Word… then I become unstable when things begin to shake!  Because I’m caught having my foundation on two different places at the same time!

Does that remind you of another scripture?  Say James 1:8 where he teaches how “a double minded man (or women) is unstable in all his (or her) ways?” (KJV)

That double minded person is similar to how I saw the weather responding to the transition from winter to spring.  It was almost like it didn’t know what to do… so it went one way, then another, and then back again (and today it is heavily overcast and is supposed to rain all day tomorrow!)

As I meditated on all this yesterday and again this morning, the light suddenly went on as to why some folks respond to tough situations that they encounter in life.  It explains why they would say one thing in front of some people and totally opposite things to someone else concerning the same situation.  It explains why emotions can fly out of control one moment and then have peaceful, loving things come from the same lips in another moment.  Believe me, it makes for a very strange and strained relationship for the one on the other side of those varying comments!

These verses seem to point out that the difficulty stems from where we are rooted and grounded.  Are both our feet firmly planted on God’s love?  Or, is one on His love and the other somewhere else?  I’ve been caught in an unbalanced position before when transferring my wife and I almost fell and dropped her!  I don’t want to be there again, so I’ve learned to always make sure that both of my feet are balanced and on a stable platform before I lift her!

And that is how I desire my faith walk to be… and the best footing according to these verses is found when both feet are firmly planted on His foundation of love.

Where are your feet planted right now?  Is your foundation stable and secure… or do you find yourself bouncing back and forth in your responses to the difficulties that life presents to you?  Don’t forget… it is easy to re-position your footing.  It starts with a solid decision to trust in the Lord and then takes commitment and continuous effort (in and through the Word) to stay there!

Have a great day, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “How stable am I expecting my feet to be today?”

PS:  Piper had a fairly positive review yesterday.  Some things have downgraded a little, but not as bad as I thought – PTL!  Thanks for your continued prayer support!