Blessed is the one…whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers. Psalms1:1-3
Today is my tenth anniversary in Heartland. I like to say that my husband and I came here after the grass but before the trees. (Unlike people such as Joe and Becky Flood who came even before the grass. They had to walk from their house to the school on wooden planks thrown across the mud.) During our second or third summer at Heartland, the trees arrived. The landscaping crew spent hours planting and watering the little saplings that are just now beginning to offer some shade for our lawns.
Growth is like that. When you set out to build something like a family, or a business, or a community, or a church it takes a while. Change happens slowly and often in ways you don’t even notice unless you look back at a picture from 2005 and say, “Wow! Look how tiny those trees are in front of the Lodge!”
I think we get impatient about growth. We want to see fully-grown oak trees only eighteen months after a sapling is planted in good soil. But that doesn’t happen. A good tree needs time to grow so the root system can fully develop. That is the only thing that will hold it when storms come. So, take a look at your life today and see how far you have come. What changes have you made this year, this month, or this week that will help your roots grow deep in God?
And, if you haven’t changed, do something about it. Ask God to replant you today in His Kingdom, watered by His word and sustained by His grace. Then grow.