Has anyone else ever been in survival mode? The old saying, “When it rains, it pours,” often manifests itself all too truthfully. Different phases of life come with different levels of difficulty.
Maybe you’re running on a handful of hours of sleep every night for months on end because you have two kids under two. Maybe money is tight (due to a million possible reasons), and you’re just trying to make ends meet between paychecks. Maybe things just keep going wrong around the house that requires an investment to fix all at once. Or maybe you can fix those things yourself, but your to-do list starts to look more like a scroll than a list. And maybe… all those things happen at once.
The object of those examples isn’t to lay out exactly what “survival mode” looks like, as there’s an infinite number of events that could line up to land someone there. The hope is that someone (and hopefully more than one person) can relate to the idea and drive to my point.
Just because someone is a Christian doesn’t mean that they are exempt from the troubles this world brings. We are warned of that by Jesus himself, as well as several of the authors in the Bible. But we are also reminded that we can overcome it all through God.
James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” 1 Peter 5:9-10 says, “Resist him, firm in your faith knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” John 16:33 says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulations. But take heart; I have overcome the world. Romans 8:37-39 reminds us, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Chris Jesus our Lord.”
Let’s use a metaphor from a real-life event of mine. We had a massive, beautiful Larchwood tree come down in our front yard during a recent storm. The tree was over 70 feet tall and 9 feet in circumference near its base (thankfully, it missed the house and cars and only caused mild damage to the barn). Based on a letter from the previous owners and information passed from the owners before them, the tree was at least 170 years old. It stood guard and watched as our old farmhouse was built and expanded over the course of many years. It provided shade under which our first three kids played and ran through the sprinkler.
The day it came down, there were 40 mph sustained winds, with gusts in the 70s. During its lifetime, I’m sure that this tree has seen many such storms. But it wasn’t just the one storm that brought it down.
Our land was once a gravel pit near a quarry, meaning that the soil is thin and rocky in places. As it grew, the tree wasn’t able to sink its roots deep into the soil. Additionally, over the course of an uncharacteristically warm winter, the snowfall that our region typically sees came as a deluge of rain. Given these conditions, strong winds toppled the giant pillar. The perfect (or very imperfect) set of circumstances led to a thundering crash of splintered branches.
When the storms of life come, will you be able to stay standing? God gives us the soil that we need. We can sink our roots deep into His word, where we find the guidance, grace, love, and understanding needed to stand tall.
Storms will come, and when they do, it’s already too late to establish roots. Dive into His words. Dive into faith, family, and community. Dive into Christ, so that you are so firmly rooted that you cannot even be shaken. When everything seems to be crashing down around you, God will give you the strength needed to stand as a beacon.
In closing, let’s widen the view from our one tree. How many other trees do you have standing around you? No one person is strong enough to weather life alone. With a strong surrounding forest, even when a tree becomes uprooted, it may be kept from falling.
