The other day I wrote down this thought on my Mom2Mom Christian Parenting FB page:

“With God all variables are just possibilities in the scenario.” ~ Renee’ …. I am going to continue to think on this thought He has given me …. I think there’s a blog entry in there 😀

It is true.  All the variables in our lives are possibilities in God’s hands … to mold us and shape us into His perfect plan for us.  We have a habit of messing things up.  We try to “plant” ourselves where and how we think we should be at any given time.   We make our lives comfortable and God has to make us uncomfortable to get us back where we need to be.

Life has a way of redirecting the “streams” that feed us.  Sometimes we end up in a “desert” place.  Circumstances can make it seem that the “water” has redirected out of reach, or gone underground too deep to reach.  That is when and where we find out how we are rooted.

The Redwood trees are the grandest trees, towering above all others.  Yet their root system is shallow and should not support the mighty trees. The secret to their strength is that they tie in with their fellow Redwood trees and are linked together in an underground system.  They are strong from the little seedling to the oldest tree in the forest.  They share their roots, their nourishment.  The ones furthermost from the streams and lakes are nourished through shared roots by the ones near water.

As Christians, we connect with our family and fellow Christians through churches and prayer groups.  We support and nourish each other.  We are never alone.  We intercede in prayer for each other.  We encourage and lift each other up even if the circumstances we are going through have left us feeling like we are way out in the desert.  God uses the variables in our lives as possibilities to make us strong if we allow Him to use them.  He will bring  fellow Christians along side us to aid in our trials as well as in our growth.

Tanya Tucker sang a song many years ago … “There’s a tree in the backyard that never has been broken by the wind. And the reason it’s still standing is it was strong enough to bend.”  Sometimes storms come and threaten to destroy us.  Our “roots” are strongly anchored, but the winds are threatening to crack and break our limbs and level us to the ground, leaving us useless … just roots with no visible life.   During these storms we need to be bendable.  Rooted, yet strong enough to bend.  Life kicks up some mighty strong winds.  Are we willing to bend as He allows the winds to blow?  Or do we stiffin’ up and fight back, as though we can change the storms of life.  Can you thank Him for the storm … the  rain and wind that ultimately makes you strong?  Do you keep your roots attached during bad weather to your underground network, allowing others to be blessed by interceding on your behalf with Him? Or do you give up and try to go it on your own?

Driving around you pass millions of trees you do not notice, but then there’s that tree you pass that has “character”.  It may be a little bent, or show signs of storm damage, yet it is strong and beautiful, producing fruit or flowers even though it is scarred by life’s storms.  You may even see its roots here and there showing it’s strength in its surroundings.  While other trees will be cut down without opposition,  THAT TREE … it will be considered.  It will be noticed and preserved,  maybe even singled out as a center point for a park.  It has survived, it has character, it is strong.

Today there are all kinds of variables facing you, many harsh.  Will you thank Him, remembering that “all things work together for good”?  Are you going to try to handle it all on your own?  Will you reach out to family, even your children … to fellow Christians and secure your “roots”?  Will you allow the variables to be the possibilities in His hands?

James 1:3 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials..”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”