Deep Roots

I’m a gardener. My favorite time of year is when my flowers are in bloom. But it’s been hot and dry in our neck of the woods, so there’s been extra work. Some would call it a drought. So, because the gardens depend on me, every day I pull the garden hose to my flower beds filled with my prized plantings. Recently, while extending the hose I noticed a weed growing in an empty bed. I walked right past it. After all, we were in a drought, and I saved my watering labor for flowering plants and those producing fruit.

The weed kept growing daily, and I wondered how it could continue since I spared no water for it. It must have developed very deep roots, tapping into some unknown water supply. One day a flower head formed on the weed. I watched it, but gave it no care. After a few days I recognized it as a sunflower. Then one morning the sunflower tipped back its head at the rising sun and opened all of its vivid yellow petals for the first time. It was a glorious sight, standing straight and tall, all by itself, made more impressive by the fact that it had received no care from me.

We all experience droughts in life. We may lose a source of income or the company of a loved one. We may be on our own, without friends or family to offer assistance or encouragement. If that sunflower had looked to me for sustenance, it would have floundered. But it had a source of life. My guess was deep roots.

It’s the same for us. If we have our roots planted firmly in Jesus Christ, we will experience a constant flow of living water. Our hope comes from him. Our encouragement comes from him. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. Because of the hope we have in Jesus Christ we can bloom even in the most difficult of times. Jesus is our constant sustenance, even in the drought.