And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:3-8
Roots are used as a common metaphor in the scriptures. And all root systems will be tested. What are your roots? What are they grounded in? We need to look at our foundations and check them.
There is a danger to just living and looking at our past. Something that belongs to a by-gone day (Spiritual experience or marker) does not hold present spiritual vitality and energy. God will test our roots and foundations that are in anyway related to Him. He will find out how much of it will remain in the present state after the winds have blown through. Will you be lacking after the storm? What will remain eternally?
Then there’s the danger of our assumed relationship with God. We often think because of our attachments / memberships in a religious institution that we’ll be fine with God. God will test to see what is superficial and what actually exists and will last of your root system. What exactly are your roots clinging to? What is attached from the ‘outside’ (Religious services and actions) and what is truly grounded in Him? Association to Him is a very dangerous place if you are not truly grounded in Him daily.
Then there is a danger of being in a position without possession. The scriptural example I would give would be most of the Pharisees. They held a position of leadership and tried to ‘guide’ others to righteousness but were not really “planted” by the Father in those positions. Everything the Father did not plant will be rooted up and thrown into the fire. Many are self planted leaders, and they are in great danger if they do not completely surrender their lives to Him. There is an absolute necessity that those who lead in spiritual things have a mandate from the Father to do so. I’m sorry, but seminary credentials and titles don’t count in the court of heaven.
If you read the first three chapters of Revelation you will find the remnant. And who are they? The ones that …overcome. The ones that cannot be shaken. The remnant has deep roots downward and fruit upward. Roots that MUST be connected to a daily vital life intimate with an indwelling Holy Spirit. Intense trials are coming, that is for certain. So what really is the Church will be determined in this age. The remnant will be a testimony to the Lord’s power in that day. The enemy will be allowed to destroy everything that which is not going to be counted for God. Our roots will have to be deep and connected to an immovable object.
Rooted in the Cross and immovable. We are being tested and tried with deep experiences, and the enemy is doing it and the Lord is not preventing him, but we are coming into a fuller knowledge of the power of God and our roots are going deeper beyond a previous shakeableness. God seeks a people who cannot be shaken. Hell with all it’s arrogance and pride, is impotent against such people. We are ‘planted’ together in the likeness of His death. And that also means we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. So often our hearts cry out, “Why did the Lord allow that in our lives?” That thing which was meant to destroy us, why would the Lord allow it? Well, we were planted with Him in His death and must come the end of ourselves. These experiences allow us to know the Lord in a larger measure than we’ve ever known Him before, and thus deepening our roots with and around Him. Have you taken up your cross daily and followed Him?
May He give us the grace to endure whatever trial may be, along whatever line of metaphor, the wind, the blaze, the crucible, or the pressure of His Hand, all of which is to get us into a place where we cannot be moved and hell cannot shake us, where His power is made manifest as triumphant over all the power of the enemy.