Strong Like a Palm Tree

Have you ever just sat and looked at a palm tree? I mean really looked at it? Just off our balcony on our recent vacation was a beautiful grove of palm trees. As we sat there each morning, I became more and more fascinated by these palms.

As I watched these palms swaying and bending in the breeze, I recalled all of the hurricane footage I've seen over the years. Have you ever noticed that palm trees seem to always weather the strongest of storms? They bend...almost to the point of breaking. But they don't break. They are the things left standing when utter destruction is everywhere else around. I did a little (emphasis on little) research on these palms after we returned. I wondered what the roots were like, what made them so strong. While I don't have all of the answers, I did learn something. The root systems of these trees are not only deep, but wide. Their "foundation" is solid. And they don't resist or fight against the wind. As God often does, He showed me more than just these trees. In life, we face storms. Some that are short and intense, some that are long and steady and some that are like a cat 5 hurricane. But much like those beautiful palm trees, we don't break. We bend and stretch, and maybe even lose a few leaves, but we don't break. And the more we grow in our relationship with Christ, the deeper our roots grow. With the deeper roots, our our faith grows. And with greater faith, our ability to weather the storm trusting our Father grows. Because of the deeply rooted foundation we can safely bend in the storms. We don't have to resist or fight against the wind and destruction of the storms because our roots, our Father, defend us against all of it. It doesn't mean we don't feel the effects of the storms. It doesn't mean that we don't grow weary. It doesn't mean that we don't lose anything. But it does mean that when the storm is over, we won't be broken. We will be stronger. And we will continue to grow.