How deep are your roots planted: Lessons from a tree

“Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.” ~Alfred Billings Street

Over the last few months I've had some of the greatest challenges when it comes to my health.  I was recently diagnosed with POTS/Dysautonomia.  I also live with a few other chronic illnesses including lupus.

Living with multiple chronic illnesses, with multiple doctors,  along with other things happening in my life it would be easy for my confidence and my faith to be shaken.

However, I know who my God is and what He is capable of doing, and my faith will remain in Him.

One of my favorite things to do when I wake up each morning is to go into my garden.  I love being among nature.  Maybe it's because it brings me closer to its creator.  There are many lessons that I have learned just from being among the flowers, trees and vegetables and numerous other plants that exist in my garden alone.

While I cannot see the good in the things that have happened I know that God is at work and that someday I will look back at this time in my life and see what God has done. I have made a conscious decision to focus on the positive not to dwell on the negative and to trust in God alone.  Being among nature helps to reinforce that message.

Recently I sat down and wrote an article about lessons that I learned from trees.  One of those lessons is to keep my roots firmly planted. 

What are your roots planted in when it comes to hope in the struggles life gives you.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream, It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green, it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7,8).

I want my faith, my roots, to be so grounded in Him that when these  difficult times come my confidence in my God cannot be shaken. I may not feel like anything good could possibly come from the situation, but I know that God can and will use it to “bear fruit.”

Lessons from a Tree