In last week’s post, I talked about the books I’d read through the year of 2023. This year, I’m continuing on to a new pile, but I’m also revisiting the book I kicked 2023 off with: The Well-Watered Woman by Gretchen Saffles.
One of the young ladies I mentor picked it out of my library to read together and I’m truly glad she did.
You see, it’s only 10 days in to the new year, and I’ve hit a bit of a slump. Christmas is over. The promised amazing snowstorm over the weekend was a total bust and I had to take down my Christmas decorations. It’s the post-holiday slump, when winter turns bland and dull in spite of the days growing longer again.
I developed a case of the blahs. I felt unfocused and annoyed by everything. But in spite of that, I opened the book and started reading to outline some questions for conversation later. And I remembered why I loved this book so much.
The first section of this book reminds us about roots, and how, like plants, we’ll be bowled over and destroyed by the storms of life that come our way without those important roots.
You’ve likely seen this meme:
It makes us laugh, but it’s also true for the Christian walk.
In John chapter 4, Jesus meets a woman at a well in the heat of the day. She has come to draw water, and instead meets the Well of Living Water that will never run dry:
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13-14
We need Living Water to grow. We also need Son-light.
We are houseplants in the hands of the Creator God, who freely offers us all we need to thrive and grow. He made us so that we would need His help, and He created our emotions not as our enemies but as our “check engine lights” to alert us when something isn’t right.
When I start feeling this way, I need to spend a little time sitting with the “blahs” and figure out why my check engine lights are on. I need to dig deeper into the Word and shift my thoughts away from “blah” and back to Jesus fully. I need to keep on digging my roots down deeper and deeper into His Truth for nourishment.
Why? Because this is how we are designed. Scripture offers two pictures of trees to remind us how we are to live:
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV): ”But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
- Psalm 1:2-3 (NIV): ”But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
There are going to be days where you have the “blahs.” There are going to be gray days and sunny days and days where loads of snow is promised but doesn’t arrive. There will be clear days and super windy days and hail and sleet and ice. The trees that we are need all of these things. We need light and rain to nourish us. We also need hardship and trials to force us to grow deep roots–which without resistance, we won’t develop. When we have a good balance of all these things in our lives, we can be like these trees that withstood the ice we got and shone in the sunlight that followed:
Ministry in any form will have days that are not joyous. Without solid roots, we will not have the strength to get back up and keep going, keep loving, keep serving those under our care. Embrace the wind and rain alongside the sun and warmth. God will provide all we need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
Don’t be afraid to sit down with your feelings and see what they’re trying to tell you. Don’t be afraid to take charge of them and get your mind back on the path with Jesus (Romans 12:2–you have a choice!). Don’t be afraid of the hardships you may be walking through–God’s plan is sovereign no matter what.
You’re basically a houseplant, but the best Gardner in the world is tending to you (John 15). You have nothing to fear.
Oh, and if you need this reminder… go drink some water and water your houseplants.
Blessings,
~Lynne
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