Are You Flourishing? (1)

Do you need motivation today? Take a look at the palm tree. 1) You can cut it, but you can’t kill it! The minerals and nutrients most trees need to survive are found on the surface, just below the bark, so, when you cut them, they die. But not the palm tree. Its life comes from within, so it flourishes, even under attack. Listen: ‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels’ (2 Corinthians 4:7 NASB). How wonderful; even though the earthen vessel without may be cut and wounded, the treasure within is secure, beyond the enemy’s reach! 2) It will bend, but it won’t break. Tropical winds can blow most trees away, but not the palm tree. The stronger the wind, the further it bends – sometimes all the way to the ground. Yet when the storm ceases, it straightens up again and is actually stronger in the place where it bent. What a picture! We were made to bend, but not break, because God gives us ‘strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy’ (Colossians 1:11 MSG). 3) Its depth always exceeds its height! While the roots of the average plant go only a few feet under the ground, the palm tree’s roots can go down hundreds of yards in search of water. David said, ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you’ (Psalm 42:1 NIV). Go deep, work on your own connection to God and you’ll never be…uprooted…or barren…or blown away!