“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” Matthew 7:25
On the side of a disused railway line, now a cycle and footpath near where I live, is something which stirs my mind and heart each time I pass it. There are two, twenty-foot-tall trees growing out of a narrow ledge on the front of a vertical cliff-face. The cliff and ledge are both solid rock – with a thin layer of soil on the ledge, which has obviously dropped from above and settled there over the years. Both trees are thriving and growing strong, withstanding all the elements, like the rain, snow and the blustery winds which blow up and down the valley where they stand.
Each time I see them they remind me that whenever things are hard, tough and “impossible”, the only way we will survive and prosper is if our roots go deep. However the seeds from which those trees grew got onto that ledge in the first place, and however they became buried, out of sight, in the soil which had collected there, they have literally taken root and grown. They have grown and prospered against all the odds, despite the elements which have certainly not been in their favour.
These trees teach us an invaluable life lesson. It is essential that you always ensure you build your life upon The Rock and that your roots go deep in Him. The tougher and harder things are, or things become, the deeper your roots need to go – and grow. In the same way that Yeshua counselled us to build our house upon a rock – rather than on sand – we need to ensure our foundations are built upon and our roots are planted deep upon something, Someone, Who will ensure we remain well founded and secure when tough times come.