Ability to take hold

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He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers (Psalm 1:3 ESV).

A sapling was planted in soil to take root and flourish one day. This plant was expected to bring forth flowers and fruit in its due time. But something about its growth process was not normal. The farmer saw the plant every day expecting to find flowers but remained disheartened. He tilled and aerated the soil, and provided it with fertilizers, but the buds dried up and did not turn into flowers. The time came for the plant to bear fruit but the buds had never opened.

The next season came and the farmer in his dismay transplanted the plant to another soil. Still, the plant showed no new signs of growth. It was uprooted again to be potted into yet another type of soil. It was then that the farmer realized the roots of this plant did not grow deep enough to take hold of the soil.

The soil is the difficult situations we undergo in life, from one to another. Some people learn from them and remain stable when faced with yet another similar kind of trial, but some seem to falter every time. For the world, it becomes a matter of sympathy towards the one who falters. But the reality is if a person keeps faltering under trial and difficulty, it may not be about the trial, but about the mindset of the person himself. It might be his or her growth was stunted and they failed to bloom and bear fruit—not because of what the darkness was doing but because they were not ready to take hold of the Light.
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How many times in life do we blame our situations or failures on the people around us? In our response to trials, it can be easier to blame others for our condition. It’s easier to think the soil is all wrong, but how many bother to consider the plant itself may be part of the problem? Isn’t that something! The knowledge of the Spirit comes with experience and its understanding follows.

​Deepika Emmanuel Sagar
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India - info@grace-lines.net