Many years ago, Theresa and I had an opportunity to see the Giant Sequoia trees in Yosemite Park. The fact that “giant” is included in the name is no joke! Many of these trees are hundreds of feet tall, and some are so thick they’ve carved a tunnel through the trunk so cars can drive right through.
During Pastor Alvin’s message on Sunday, he mentioned these giant redwoods. Something interesting he said is that while these trees are massive, they actually have a surprisingly shallow root system. In fact, their roots rarely go deeper than 6 to 12 feet. So what keeps these giant trees from falling over? It is the fact that their roots extend out horizontally. The roots of the redwood may be shallow, but they reach out and intertwine with the roots of surrounding redwoods and trees. This is what gives them an amazingly strong foundation.
As I thought about this, a passage came to mind from Ephesians 3:17-18. It says,
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.
The image of redwood trees seems to capture something important about this passage so nicely. The idea of being rooted is an agricultural idea. Like the giant redwood, we are to be rooted and established, but our foundation is the love of God. Even more, we are supposed to grasp how wide and long the love of Christ is, but do so together with all the Lord’s people.
So together, we are to be rooted and established in the love of God, and together we are to grasp how amazing God’s love is. Like the giant redwoods, we were not meant to rely on the strength of our own roots. Rather, we can reach out to others around us, to not only get support but to offer it as well.
I think this is such a powerful image for the church. God never intended us to stand on the strength of our own roots and simply rely on ourselves. Rather, God places people around us to give us support in times of trouble so that we wouldn’t have to stand alone.
Is there someone you can stand with this week? One of the most powerful ways to support others is through prayer. The truth is that many of our biggest challenges are so complex and difficult that it is almost impossible to solve ourselves. When we pray for others, we bring these challenges before God, acknowledging that He has the true answer to such problems. May we never forget that God is the way, the truth, and the life, so that we can stand with each other as we face the big challenges in life.