“That they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” Isaiah 61:3b
Father, we lift up the Deeper Still Training happening this weekend. Lord, may you bring the people you have ordained and called and set apart for such a time as this to rise up and be a voice for the voiceless and become the mighty army, the oaks of righteousness for the displaying of Your splendor, O Lord, proclaiming Your truth and setting the captives free. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
As the summer Deeper Still team made Thursday preparations for the retreat on Friday at a local lake house in Knoxville, an unexpected crinkle happened in the plan. It was a simmering summer day reaching into the nineties. As we made beds, unpacked items for the retreat and organized all materials needed for the weekend of glory, all of a sudden the lights went out. The air conditioning stopped and we realized we had no electrical power whatsoever in the home. Thinking we just blew a fuse, we began to head to the fuse box. However, before we made it to the box, a team member came to the leaders wide eyed and said, “Did you see it? A huge tree just fell in the cul-de-sac just outside the driveway of the house. I just pulled in before it fell. I almost fell on me. “ What? No way.
A huge oak tree had fallen, taking power lines down with it, blocking safe passage. As explained in another post, (link “When Holy Spirit Power is Your Only Option”), we as a team decided prayer and worship was our most powerful weapon. We determined to rely on His power over electrical power and as a result, the tree was cleared and power was restored in less than an hour. Amazing.
As we prayed more into this situation, we felt like the Lord may have been also using this fallen tree as a physical representation about what He was about to do spiritually in the lives of those coming to this retreat.
There was no reason for this tree to have fallen. It was a beautiful summer day. No wind. No storms or even rain. The sun was shining and this huge tree just fell out of nowhere. However, as we sought the Lord, we felt like he revealed why the tree fell—its roots. This huge tree’s roots were land locked. This tree planted decades ago was now surrounded by a street and homes. These roots had no room expand, nowhere to go and no way to continually be nourished. As a result, the tree was weak and dry.
What the Lord began to show us as that He wanted to uproot the old and replant by streams of living water to continually nourish and bring forth life and growth. Old ways of thinking, doing and being represent our old root systems. If we are not renewing our minds with the truth of God’s Word and not nourishing our spirit with living water, then our roots will dry up and become weak. God needs to uproot the old systems and renew and refresh our roots. In Psalms 1:3, it says,
“He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper.”
When we are walking with the Lord and in His truth, His Word refreshes our souls. He is our living water. Without Him, our roots will dry up and we will fall. The good news is that He is always there ready to replant us by streams of His water if we will surrender.
At the retreats, we see the participants exchange old root systems of insecurity, unworthiness, shame, guilt, despair and condemnation for new root systems of identity in Christ, worthiness, forgiveness, joy, freedom, beauty, and praise. The transformation is glorious to witness and to be a part of it is indescribable. God uproots the old in order to bring forth the new for increase.
If you want to help with replanting God’s people by streams of living water, there is training for Deeper Still this weekend in Knoxville, TN, September 15, 16, 2017. This training is for anyone with an interest in learning more about abortion wounds and healing, becoming part of this life changing team, or starting a chapter. You can go to www.deeperstill.org for more information about registration and schedule. We’d love to have you be a part of what God is doing through Deeper Still to bind the broken hearted and set the captives free. Thank you for praying with us today.