Uprooted

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Until just a few weeks ago I never noticed "a time to uproot" in that part of scripture. Uproot sounds painful and not good. Yet really what is uprooting? When I looked at the phrase before, "a time to plant" I realized uprooting is harvesting. Fields get planted in one season and uprooted or harvested in another season.

I'm not big on veggies but I love cooked carrots. I love them in soup and casseroles. When a carrot is in the garden all you see is a green plant. All the good stuff is underground. Until you uproot that carrot you can't benefit from the goodness of it. You can't enjoy it's bright color or taste or nutrients til you pull it up out of the ground. When I looked at uprooting in this light I realized it is often a good thing.

This is true for us as well. In life uprooting would be a big change of some type. A moving from one place to another. The Webster's Dictionary defines uproot as: "to detach completely from". There could be a move in where you live, a job change, a church change, relationships that you are removed from whether voluntarily or not. Uprooting can be truly stressful! It can also be very good.

I've recently had a change, an "uprooting". My husband and I have changed churches. A word of caution before I go on. You should be careful not to leave a church because you're angry about something. Do all you can to try and work things out. I understand this doesn't always take care of things and sometimes people leave angry but do all within your power to keep peace between brothers. This is biblical. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3 You'll know you are doing this when you keep your focus on God and what direction He wants you to go in. "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you." Isaiah 26:3 Also be sure you find a community of believers to worship, learn and grow in Christ with. We need other believers in the body of Christ to love on us, encourage us and keep us in check. If you've been hurt remember it's not God who hurt you but it will be God who heals you.

In my situation my husband and I have been feeling a change of direction for a few months now. I would ask the Lord if it was time to go and several times He said no. A few months ago He (the Lord) told me to prepare for the move but didn't tell me when a change would happen. I did prepare and I'm so glad I did. When it happened it was kind of fast so I'm glad I had most everything in order ahead of time. It was really hard. There's so many people we love there. People who have known me since I was a child and others who are just dear to us.

Plus, it wasn't the tidy picture perfect leaving I had imagined when I knew there was a change coming. Being the perfectionist type this was mental block I had to overcome. My human nature said if it's not a picture perfection situation God must not be in this. This couldn't be further from the truth.

I was reading the bible and came across some things in Paul's life that were certainly not "picture perfect", all pretty and tidy with a nice bow at the top. Yet, God was in the middle of what Paul was doing. Definitely Paul was a man who followed God's orders and took his feet down the path God set out for him.

My mind began jogging around the bible to many different men and women of God who's situations seemed far less then perfect, yet God was completely in the middle of their situation and not just allowed their situation but actually told them to go that direction. The one that tops them all is Jesus. Our precious Lord and Savior. I imagine things were pretty tense for a while before the chief priests and teachers of the law found a way to "get rid of Jesus"(Luke 22:2) Jesus was doing AMAZING things and you know He did nothing out of the will of God. Yet He was handed over to the hands of men to suffer and be sacrificed. This was not just something God allowed but it is God's redemption plan. His plan!!! And you better believe He was in the middle of all this. Just like He's in the middle of situations we face.

The main thing at any time of our life is to keep our eyes fixed on Christ and be obedient to what God is calling us to do. Then when turmoil comes and the wind and waves crash on us we can have peace knowing and trusting God led you there. He will not leave you. He's got you right where you are for a reason so bigger then you can comprehend.

No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him.

I Corinthians 2:9

I love he lyrics to the song Whatever You're Doing by Sanctus Real. They sum up what I've been saying well.

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly