Growing Deeper Roots

It seems like when I was in college it was easy to make new friends, or more accurately there were a lot of opportunities to make new friends.  Every semester meant a new set of classes, a new schedule, a new routine and the chance to encounter a new set of people.  By contrast, adult life seems to have a pretty consistent pattern especially in a small town.  There are the same circles of people with little to mix it up.

The thing about the college friends that were so plentiful in my younger life, is that those relationships were for the most part very fleeting.  There would be people that I would see regularly for a time and as a result we would have conversations and do some things together.  But then the semester would change and there would be a new shuffle of people and without the convenience of being around each other, the friendship withered.

Today there are definitely less opportunities to make new friends.  The mix of people that I encounter does not shuffle that often.  And living in a small town, when things do shuffle, they are inevitably still the same people, just in a different order.  But by having the same people in our lives through several seasons there is a chance for the friendships to grow deeper.  They were there for me when I was going through a tough time and I was there for them likewise. Over time the multitudes of shared experience grow deeper and a true, enduring experience results.  The friendship becomes less like a wildflower blown on the wind and more like a solid oak with roots that can withstand a storm.

As Christians we need to strive to build our relationship with God into an enduring old friendship.  Like all relationships, building a relationship with God comes from going through the events of life together.  We celebrate the good times and lean in for comfort in the bad.  All of these things give time for the roots to grow so that they are ready to hold when the storms arrive.  

But of course, it does take time.  No one expects a giant tree to grow over night.  But we plant trees and we prune them and we let them grow and give them time.  And when the storms come, it pulls on the roots and that strain helps the roots grow deeper and stronger than ever before.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

In our backyard there is a big sugar maple tree.  It is special because it is big and old and the only one around.  There are many maple trees in our yard and on the state land next to us, but they are all red maples.  All of them.  What this tells me is that years ago, someone made the conscious decision to plant that tree.  They cared for it and gave it the opportunity to grow into something special.  Our relationship with God is like that.  We make a decision.  We care for it.  We let it grow,  It grows into something magnificent.

Have a great week.