Roots and exposure

While hiking in Colorado back in June, I glanced to the right and spied this tree, clinging to the side of the "cliff". The picture made me stop dead in my tracks and stare, for a good minute or so, at what was a physical picture in nature of what the past 8 months have been for me spiritually!
If you can see in the picture, nearly 3/4 of the root system is literally "exposed" to the air and elements, not receiving nourishment, while the other 1/4 of the roots are digging in hard, clinging to the soil and sucking out the nutrients the tree needs to survive.
God, in His awesome, loving, gentle, mercy has been exposing my roots...the bad roots, and we all know that bad roots produce bad fruit.
The exposed roots on this tree looked dry and unable to receive or give anything toward the life of the tree...they were dying or were already dead.
I am thrilled that God has exposed my bad roots, although I've often felt a bit like this tree looks....exposed, and clinging with the remaining good roots to the "cliff", just trying to hang on and live! But if the bad roots had not been exposed and subsequently "uprooted" and killed, the tree itself would continue to produce bad fruit, even though there are some good roots.
God, in His mercy, has strengthened the remaining good roots and is planting me in new soil for more good roots to grow and receive the much needed nourishment necessary for healthy growth. I'm clinging to the only One who can provide everything I need for that growth, and that's Jesus Christ!

Faithfulness

I don't think I will ever stop being amazed by God's faithfulness. He is SO involved in the initmate details of our lives, if we will let Him be, and if when we do, we are attuned to His tender voice, wooing us into His presence, to behold His face, and be embraced by His loving, gentle arms. The Bible describes God as always faithful because He cannot deny Himself...wow, faithful is who He is, not just a characteristic!!! We humans see faithfulness on the practical level as some sort of fruit or action from someone. But people can also be unfaithful...God can never be unfaithful because that would deny who He is. I'm floored when I ponder that the lover of my soul, His very essence, is faithful...no wonder the Bible says repeatedly, "don't be afraid!" This Truth frees me up to be utterly faithful to others because I know that the One who lives in me cannot be anything other than faithful TO me, and it is His faithfulness that will flow through me!

Disappointments

Life is full of disappointments. Usually these are a result of people's choices. One of the things I struggle with is when someone says he will do something and then backs out, repeatedly. I find people like this to be untrustworthy. However, we must be careful never to attach people's actions as a reflection of who God is or how He will act. He is fully trustworthy and will never, ever let us down. He will never leave us nor forsake us. That is a Truth to live by, especially when people continually disappoint.

Good friends

Do you ever need to be reminded of the goodness of God in providing? He ALWAYS does....in every way that He sees fit, which is always perfect for us. Sometimes, for me, He provides in ways I never expect...meaning, I expect less of God than what He wants to give me. But our God is a great God, our God is a GOOD God. These are three precious women whom God has literally dropped into my life...His provision as all three of them deeply love Jesus and are running HARD after Him. God, you are sooooooooo good, ALL the time!