Do you ever have one of those days where you just feel “gutted”? (which means upset or saddened, but the British word for this just sounds better, right? :)

Last week I touched on the subject of how do we LOVE when we aren’t feeling very lovely, or loving. I wanted to go a little deeper this week on that idea, I just didn’t realize HOW deep the Lord wanted me to go until this morning…

You see, this morning I had two very tearful conversations that reveal and remind me of my need to remain in Christ’s life-giving strength, so that I am deeply rooted in Him. Rooted in His peace, in His love, and most of all in His will. These are all GREAT things and please don’t get me wrong as I say this… but realizing these come at the cost of ourselves, (or should I say OUR will), is hard.

Let me explain.

In the broken world we live in I admit that I can let my emotions, which in turn become my will, to carry me. I don’t want them to… but I would guess that as of late it’s a combination of my age (a.k.a. hormones out of wack) and the work the Lord is calling me to do. Writing a book about our willingness to be bold in our faith for the Lord goes against everything this world stands for. Hosting retreats that desire to point people to Jesus, the Author and Creator of all GOOD and BEAUTY in this world, isn’t easy either. And, if I’m completely honest, it seems like when we’re doing the Lord’s will the enemy wants to attack our lives even more…. because he does.

That’s ok, we know this happens if we read God’s Word, so it’s actually one way we can see we are on the right path. But as we walk that road we need to be aware, or reminded, where our focus needs to remain.

And that was reiterated in my life today.

When we don’t have a foundation that’s rooted in Christ our emotions will lead us astray. Plain and simple. And even when those roots are there, they may need a little watering, like mine did. But can I tell you the JOY that that watering brings is so nurturing AND such a beautiful prompting of the GRACE that we live by as believers in Jesus Christ!

Thank you Jesus… I wouldn’t want to live any other way.

John 15:5 reminds us of this: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus Christ is our lifeline friends. He is the vine that we need to stay connected to. And by the work of the Holy Spirit (our Helper) that vine is holding onto its branches (us) by nurturing, watering and keeping us connected. It’s not by our will, or our might, or our work.

Let that sink in… no matter what we want or do, God’s will is always sovereign. He already knows what “gutts” us, what desires we have, or how we think life should go… and YET, He still loving holds on to us, nourishes us and directs us towards His best for us. His constant grip on His branches is something to we should all be praising God for! We would have let go a long time ago if it was the other way around…

Yesterday on IG I posted this quote:

“When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.”

This quote from Billy Graham couldn’t be more timely in my life. I am thankful for this great reminder of where the focus of our lives should be sourced from.

I see it as boiling down to this:

Do we let our emotions direct our choices (and responses) or do we raise our hands, open palmed, feet firmly planted in the “soil” of God’s Word and give our lives over to the greatest source of all?

I choose option #2. Oh, it may come with some uncomfortable situations and it definitely comes with letting go of our own will…

But recognizing we have God Almighty, who from the beginning of time desired to have a connection with us, a connection that is ROOTED in relationship with Him is an amazing place to start!

That is the beginning of God and the beginning of our true purpose coming alive in us, and throughout this world.

Ephesians 3:16-19 - I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

I don’t know about you, but this week has only begun and I’ve already realized I’m needing to learn and live this out. Maybe like me, you need to get to the end of yourself like Billy Graham said. The good news… I think when we recognize our weaknesses we can finally look up and see God’s perfect love and power was waiting there all along.

Friends, we can trust in Jesus to work out lives out!

I’ll talk more about this on Friday’s Journaling Prompt and share ways we can remain rooted in Christ.

By the way the word ROOTED is my “word for the year” that the Lord put on my heart at the beginning of 2021, so I guess He’s still showing me what that looks like…

I hope this encourages your hearts today. Please know I am always here to pray for you, talk with you or answer any questions you may want to ask. I am so thankful for your encouragement as well and I love that the Lord has brought us together, even on this little blog.

Hugs to all,

Laura