Uprooting is an Important Component to Being Rooted
Recently, I have been going through a season of uprooting in my life. It sounds really strange because I know that God is calling me to a season of planting roots. Huh? Exactly. Automatically my question was "What is He doing?" I know that He isn't trying to confuse me. No. On the contrary, He is definitely using this moment to teach me something and to bring clarity to my current circumstances.
Since I came back four years ago from my last trip to Ukraine, I was ready for God to plant me. At least that's how I approached the idea. I was scouring high and low for the job that would pave the way for a career, a house, and the start of my own family. The first few months, God wasn't opening a single door. I would find some open windows and try to push my way in, and He would find ways to push me back out. My human-self was beginning to panic. I needed to start making money right away. My credit cards were reaching their maximum limits. One of the things that God clearly spoke to me during my trip was that I needed to come back and nullify my debt before He would open the door for me to step into full-time ministry. As I began to see my cards piling up with debt, I felt like I was never going to climb out of this hole and the burden was pressuring me to find a job, any job. Finally, I gave in to my human nature and found something that would help me make money.
What I didn't realize at the time was that God was starting the process of directing my path towards a new season of growth. When you walk with God long enough, overtime you start to see how when you thought your life was falling apart, God was maneuvering things around you to put you exactly where He knew the right formula would begin the process of change in your life. Those three months that I wasn't working, God helped me to put together the entire outline for the story that He wants me to share as a testimony with others. Sadly, I put it aside and took on two jobs just to make ends meet.
Flashforward four months, I met up with a friend of mine and all I was doing was complaining about how my life was falling apart. I came back to be "planted." At this point, I had moved five times in the span of seven months. Why was God not allowing me to be planted? Wasn't this His desire for me? Why was nothing working out? I hated both of my jobs. I wanted to give up on myself, on God. My friend gave me the following advice: "Don't let your emotions dictate your choices. Give your current job a couple more months. If you still hate it, leave." A few months later, I was putting in my notice. I felt like a complete failure. I remember calling my dad the day that I was trying to make my decision. I was crying uncontrollably. I asked my dad to pray with me to seek God to help me make the right decision. Before we started praying, my dad said, "I don't think you need God's help to make a decision. I believe you already made one, and you need God's supernatural peace to help quiet the storm of fear and doubt that is raging inside of you." He was absolutely right. I packed up my things and moved back in with my folks.
Again, at that time I missed what God was doing. God had rebirthed in me a desire that He had put on my heart back when I was a child. It was a dream I had forgotten about, and now He was reigniting my passion for it. Once I crossed state lines and moved in with my parents, I quickly began to hide behind my work again, even though now I was working towards specific God-given goals: 1.) Get out of debt 2.) Make the dream a reality. The problem was that I was doing it in my own strength and my own human abilities. First, I kept looking for different opportunities that would help aide me in building a career. I also began to date. Just as quickly as these things would seem to appear and line up in my life, they would disappear. I kept thinking why God wasn't helping me. I find this thought silly as I am writing this right now, because the answer is simple. I wasn't allowing Him to help me. Every time that I made a decision that wasn't rooted in Him, He would shake my newly formed foundation and have me start again. I played tug-of-war with God for two years, until the second half of last year.
I knew that God was done playing this game with me, so He sent a massive earthquake my way. He made me listen. After two years of saying "no" to God by drowning myself in my own work, I said "yes" to starting a Women's Bible Study. That was when I allowed God to start laying down His foundation in my life. Oddly enough, as I felt the concrete of His Word being poured into me, I also started to notice the process of uprooting begin. He started by removing my doubt and fear by filling me up with His love and peace. As He began to pour in the importance of my identity in Him, He simultaneously tore out the lies the enemy had planted in my heart. At the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to surrender myself to Him more than before. When the time came, I was ready for God to dig into the deepest, darkest parts of my heart and help me release all the hurt and pain from within. It came flooding out like a mighty river. I was physically sore for the next couple days and emotionally exhausted. He continued to uproot and plant, demolish and build. For the first time in a long time, I didn't want to run and hide. This new foundation was giving me solid ground to stand upon and His love was casting out all fear. My trust in Him was standing upon the truth of His Word.
Now I understand what He meant when He said that this would be a season of uprooting. Uprooting can be a painful process, but it is a process of healing. Healing gives way to bringing down the walls and allowing yourself to be open and vulnerable again. Jericho first needed to be torn down before it could ever begin the process of rebuilding. It was built on the wrong foundation, a foundation that wasn't rooted in God. That's what God has been doing for me in my life. I know that this season has come to a close for now. I know He is moving me into something new, but I know that I am not done with my season of learning how to be rooted in Him.
To learn what it means to be rooted in Him, I took the following steps. I made a commitment to come to our church's bible study regularly, which is currently studying the Life of Christ and His ministry here on earth. I rearranged my work schedule in order to be able to attend. Then, I enrolled in online Bible College classes to complete my Biblical Counseling Degree. As I begin to let God lead me in these decisions, I begin to see how His blessings are starting to flow into other areas of my life.
Since I came back four years ago from my last trip to Ukraine, I was ready for God to plant me. At least that's how I approached the idea. I was scouring high and low for the job that would pave the way for a career, a house, and the start of my own family. The first few months, God wasn't opening a single door. I would find some open windows and try to push my way in, and He would find ways to push me back out. My human-self was beginning to panic. I needed to start making money right away. My credit cards were reaching their maximum limits. One of the things that God clearly spoke to me during my trip was that I needed to come back and nullify my debt before He would open the door for me to step into full-time ministry. As I began to see my cards piling up with debt, I felt like I was never going to climb out of this hole and the burden was pressuring me to find a job, any job. Finally, I gave in to my human nature and found something that would help me make money.
What I didn't realize at the time was that God was starting the process of directing my path towards a new season of growth. When you walk with God long enough, overtime you start to see how when you thought your life was falling apart, God was maneuvering things around you to put you exactly where He knew the right formula would begin the process of change in your life. Those three months that I wasn't working, God helped me to put together the entire outline for the story that He wants me to share as a testimony with others. Sadly, I put it aside and took on two jobs just to make ends meet.
Flashforward four months, I met up with a friend of mine and all I was doing was complaining about how my life was falling apart. I came back to be "planted." At this point, I had moved five times in the span of seven months. Why was God not allowing me to be planted? Wasn't this His desire for me? Why was nothing working out? I hated both of my jobs. I wanted to give up on myself, on God. My friend gave me the following advice: "Don't let your emotions dictate your choices. Give your current job a couple more months. If you still hate it, leave." A few months later, I was putting in my notice. I felt like a complete failure. I remember calling my dad the day that I was trying to make my decision. I was crying uncontrollably. I asked my dad to pray with me to seek God to help me make the right decision. Before we started praying, my dad said, "I don't think you need God's help to make a decision. I believe you already made one, and you need God's supernatural peace to help quiet the storm of fear and doubt that is raging inside of you." He was absolutely right. I packed up my things and moved back in with my folks.
Again, at that time I missed what God was doing. God had rebirthed in me a desire that He had put on my heart back when I was a child. It was a dream I had forgotten about, and now He was reigniting my passion for it. Once I crossed state lines and moved in with my parents, I quickly began to hide behind my work again, even though now I was working towards specific God-given goals: 1.) Get out of debt 2.) Make the dream a reality. The problem was that I was doing it in my own strength and my own human abilities. First, I kept looking for different opportunities that would help aide me in building a career. I also began to date. Just as quickly as these things would seem to appear and line up in my life, they would disappear. I kept thinking why God wasn't helping me. I find this thought silly as I am writing this right now, because the answer is simple. I wasn't allowing Him to help me. Every time that I made a decision that wasn't rooted in Him, He would shake my newly formed foundation and have me start again. I played tug-of-war with God for two years, until the second half of last year.
I knew that God was done playing this game with me, so He sent a massive earthquake my way. He made me listen. After two years of saying "no" to God by drowning myself in my own work, I said "yes" to starting a Women's Bible Study. That was when I allowed God to start laying down His foundation in my life. Oddly enough, as I felt the concrete of His Word being poured into me, I also started to notice the process of uprooting begin. He started by removing my doubt and fear by filling me up with His love and peace. As He began to pour in the importance of my identity in Him, He simultaneously tore out the lies the enemy had planted in my heart. At the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to surrender myself to Him more than before. When the time came, I was ready for God to dig into the deepest, darkest parts of my heart and help me release all the hurt and pain from within. It came flooding out like a mighty river. I was physically sore for the next couple days and emotionally exhausted. He continued to uproot and plant, demolish and build. For the first time in a long time, I didn't want to run and hide. This new foundation was giving me solid ground to stand upon and His love was casting out all fear. My trust in Him was standing upon the truth of His Word.
Now I understand what He meant when He said that this would be a season of uprooting. Uprooting can be a painful process, but it is a process of healing. Healing gives way to bringing down the walls and allowing yourself to be open and vulnerable again. Jericho first needed to be torn down before it could ever begin the process of rebuilding. It was built on the wrong foundation, a foundation that wasn't rooted in God. That's what God has been doing for me in my life. I know that this season has come to a close for now. I know He is moving me into something new, but I know that I am not done with my season of learning how to be rooted in Him.
To learn what it means to be rooted in Him, I took the following steps. I made a commitment to come to our church's bible study regularly, which is currently studying the Life of Christ and His ministry here on earth. I rearranged my work schedule in order to be able to attend. Then, I enrolled in online Bible College classes to complete my Biblical Counseling Degree. As I begin to let God lead me in these decisions, I begin to see how His blessings are starting to flow into other areas of my life.
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