Flourish

flour·ish/ˈfləriSH/

grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.

“They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.” – Psalm 92:13

This verse has been on my mind for quite awhile and I’ve had it in my head as this “those who are planted in the lord will flourish.” A slight difference in words and a more generalized statement but it struck a chord within me.

I know that because Jesus is my savior, that I am inherently “rooted” in Christ. But the more I thought on this verse the more I asked myself, where are my roots, truly? Am I rooted in myself and counting on myself to get things done? To accomplish my personal goals in life? The honest answer is yes.

I want to thrive in life, to flourish, not just live. And right now, I’m just living. In order to thrive and to have a life solely for God my roots need to be in him and not in myself.

Plants receive 98% of their nutrients from their roots. That statistic baffled me when I began reviewing plant biology (I’m a nerd what can I say) but it makes so much sense. So much of our lives occur underneath the surface. We are each fighting our own battles and determining our own convictions, thoughts, plans and goals. We share those under the surface truths with a handful of people but there is one who knows all; God. My God knows my heart and he knows that I want to live for him. But it’s the action that I lack.

My days begin and end with me; not Him, and that’s sadly so far from the way it should be. In high school my first thought in the morning was “Hi Lord” and my last was “goodnight Lord” and it was something I forced myself to do for awhile and then it became a habit. Sometime in the last three years that habit has died and it saddens me.

My roots should be in the Bible, in prayer, in Him. This should be my habit and my life. Relationships take work and effort and time and if I don’t make the effort with God the relationship will not grow, instead it will regress.

In the midst of this lovely quarantined state I want to change my habits, and this is the perfect time! I want to begin and end my days with him; I want prayer to be a conversation that is ongoing through my day as well as scheduled. I want to be so much more for him than I am now and I hope that this feeling, this desire, to chase after him never fades!

My hope for each of you is that you will use this time to work on your most important relationship, the one with God. I pray that all of us will grow and that our roots will be strengthened. Things are scary right now and I feel it too, but let’s turn to Him, the all knowing One and rely on him to get us through!

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, – Ephesians 3:17

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

#Encouraging #Psalms #Scripture