This tree came crashing down in our yard one day last week.
When I looked out of my upstairs window and spotted this tree, I called to my hubby who was downstairs, and asked him if he saw the huge limb that had fallen. He came and looked and informed me it was a tree, not a limb. In my defense, we do have a lot of very large trees and I was kind of far away, and yes, it may be time to schedule a visit with the eye doctor.
He immediately knew which tree it was. He had tried to take it down himself, but at the time, it wouldn’t budge. That’s the tricky thing about trees. When they die, they die from the inside out. We can’t tell what’s happening on the outside, so we can be oblivious to their slow destruction until they fall on our house.
Thankfully, this one didn’t fall on the house or the deck, but closer inspection of it, really made me think.
There were no roots on this tree. They were completely gone.
The roots on this tree were completely dead. There wasn’t even a stump left, just a hole in the ground where a rather nice size tree had once stood. I don’t know what killed it. I do know a tree can’t live without roots. Georgia was in many years of drought and many trees in our neighborhood have been stressed and died. Prolonged drought can be extremely dangerous for trees.
Unfortunately, our spiritual lives can become like this tree if we aren’t diligent. Whether we have been raised in church or find Jesus later in our lives, we are all susceptible to life’s droughts. We weather relationship failures, divorce, job loss, illness, the loss of loved ones or infertility. There are so many hardships in life that can lead to spiritual drought that there’s just no way I could list them all here.
The point is, there are many situations that can lead us into drought. Sometimes they aren’t even life altering circumstances. Sometimes we stay married, raise kids and attend church every Sunday, but we don’t really seek God or His will for our lives. Sometimes, our spirituality slowly dies without us even knowing it. We don’t leave worship services on fire and ready to change the world. We just leave worship services, complacent and check it off of our to-do list. We can be slowly dying spiritually and not even know it because we are in spiritual drought.
The good news is, unlike that dead tree that had no choice in its fate, we do have a choice. At any moment, we can decide to search for something more and there’s so much available. We can pray for forgiveness for turning away from God to start off with and for guidance on this journey. We can dust off that old Bible and read it. We can follow along with Bible studies and blogs online. There are so many to choose from and there are so many people who struggle with this. We can find a church home and then a group or Sunday school class to plug into. We can serve others in some way. We can seek a mentor. We can find a new fresh church home if that’s what we need to do.
The bottom line is if we are in a season of drought, we must make changes and we must seek Jesus if we want to reverse our deterioration. He is really the only one who can guarantee restoration. Jesus said, “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
I don’t know about you, but fresh bubbling streams sound pretty good and it’s all there just for us. We only have to ask. If you are in a season of drought, I hope you will take Jesus up on his offer. The invitation is always open.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂