I heard a huge explosion, saw fireworks, my house shook, and I lost power. But it wasn’t the Fourth of July!
I had just lived through two ginormous trees falling down—one large hunk of tree in my backyard (several feet from my home) and one entire massive tree blocking the road almost directly in front of my home. Apparently, both had been blown over by strong winds during a severe thunderstorm.
The local power company employee (the first to arrive on the scene) didn’t seem surprised at this. He told me with a flat expression on his face, “Yep, I see this a lot! Although both trees look healthy from the outside, you don’t really know what’s on the inside—how strong they really are—until they’re 
hit, full force, with the elements. These two were rotten on the inside, and have been like that for a long time by the looks of it.”
Several hours later I had power again; and a day later, the trees were cut, cleaned, and removed. It was almost as if nothing had happened, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what the power company employee said. Then God stuck a question in my mind: “As Christians, what kind of tree are we? Are we healthy, or rotten?”
How do we remain watered, connected, anchored, so that when the storms of life come, we won’t get blown down? Well, that’s the most important question that we’ll answer today.
“Dead Man Walking!”
Jesus, confronting Jewish spiritual leaders, had this to say to them, and to us: “You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show–offs. You’re like tombs that have been whitewashed. On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth. That’s what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good” (Matthew 23:27, 28, CEV).
Several years ago, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey pummeling Texas and Louisiana—and Hurricane Irma devastating Florida and the Caribbean—I was receiving e-mails and weather status reports about hurricane/severe weather safety preparations. I had family and friends who lived in those areas and because of that I took them seriously, and pressed them to prepare!
Jesus told a story about preparing for rough weather, those proverbial storms of life that are always around the corner:
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (Matthew 7:24-29, NLT).
Jesus contrasted two people who prepared for those storms. The only difference was that only one of them made sure there was no rottenness inside. He was able to weather the storm successfully. What was the secret? He built his life upon Jesus. He not only listened (or read or heard) the words of Jesus, he actually put them into practice.
We can also have that same experience, and we don’t have to wait until the storms of life come. And I guarantee, they will come! Today is a great time to make sure that our insides match our outsides; that we are healthy both inside and out. Nobody wants to be like that toppled tree: looking great externally, but internally rotten to their cores!
Roots Run Deep
I love the word-picture the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, paints, when describing this same life situation:
“I, the Lord, have put a curse on those who turn from me and trust in human strength. They will dry up like a bush in salty desert soil, where nothing can grow. But I will bless those who trust me. They will be like trees growing beside a stream—trees with roots that reach down to the water, and with leaves that are always green. They bear fruit every year and are never worried by a lack of rain” (Jeremiah 17:5-8, CEV).
Staying Connected—No Matter What!
So how do we do it? How do we remain watered, connected, anchored? Well, Jesus spoke to that as well, and told about another tree—well, more of a branch and a vine:
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love (John 15:1-10, NLT).
The answer to the question of how to retain the power to be successful in this life is to remain connected—no matter what happens! We just need to get and stay connected to Him. It’s simple in theory but not so easy in practice.
But it is possible! If we focus every day on seeking to stay connected to Jesus—to build on the Solid Rock, to sink our roots deep in Christ, we’ll be strongly and securely connected when the storms of life strike.
Additional Resources
Growing in Christ
