Roots of Change
The cursor blinks and the writing of words seems to be met with hesitation of soul. Change is happening all around and I want to believe deep down that the change will lead to growth and betterment for all, but something in me resists that notion to be true.
The deep soul change we need as a people is not created by the policies of man but rather by a surrendering of soul to the nail scarred hands that bled once, for all the sin of the world. The change we need will never be accomplished by simply scratching the surface of who we are but instead by scratching the surface bare until we can lay hold of the roots. The roots of who we are grip us and bind us to the way things have always been.
It is not until the roots are uncovered from the painful scratching of the surface that we identify their origin and begin uprooting them with every ounce of energy we have.
Changing the roots of who we are in order to become less like us and more like Christ is tiresome work with exponential impact. The more like Him that we become the more we mark the world with the stamp of the Kingdom, thus bringing Heaven to Earth.
I have only begun to embrace change and receive it as joy within the last 10 years of my life. The embracing of change mostly came from the raw and painful surface scratching that hurt far worse when I fought it than when I learned to surrender to the shift.
Immediately after college graduation I received a job offer that would move me nine hours from everything I ever knew. I believed that the change was going to be positive and beneficial, not only for my career but for every part of my life. Nonetheless, I hated it and cried over it and spent the first six months in my new home throwing a toddler temper tantrum every day.
The change was hard. The surface was being repeatedly scratched and my roots were beginning to show. The roots of my upbringing. The roots of my trauma. The roots of my prejudices. The roots of my privilege. The roots of my expectations. The roots of my vulnerability. The roots of my insecurity. All of it was beginning to show from the roots up because of the repeated persistence of God scratching away at me to impart more of Him.
After years of digging up roots and identifying origins, alongside therapists and trusted Bible teachers, I have learned to embrace the changing of me because it means a greater embracing of Christ.
Change that reveals more Christ in us is necessary because stagnation is never the goal. Everything that is growing is changing. When we begin to look the same, season after season, we have to be willing to face the fact that we are no longer growing.
If you find yourself in a season of stagnation where growth is not evident, it’s time to dig deep and begin to uproot more of you to replace it with more of Christ. Be willing to sink your roots into the living water of Jesus and be planted in streams of righteousness by the word of God. Allow seeds of hope and reconciliation to fall on the fertile soil of your soul being cultivated by your sheer willingness to uproot the old and surrender to the new creation that God desires for you to be.
Just because you’re not changing right now doesn’t mean that change is impossible. Allow the scratching of the surface to continue so that the colors of fall can emerge upon the scene of your life. Or maybe you’re past the scratching down and the roots are bare and the snow lays heavy like the burden of winter. Winter doesn’t look like it’s changing…but the value of winter isn’t fully realized until the colorful blooms of spring arrive. Those blooms lead to a bountiful harvest, which is the part we all enjoy most.
Surrender today to the roots of change and await the beauty of blooming into more of Him. You’ll surely be set up to reap a harvest of joy after you’ve surrendered to the roots of change.
© Dani Hardy / November 12, 2020
Roots of Change